Journey of a Thousand James
by Meinos Kaen
Summary: James suddenly gets a call. An old friend is finally healed and is waiting for him to pick him up. He does so, but... The return trip to get back to his travelling companions takes an unexpected turn before even starting. Now up: Interlude I RxR, please
1. The Badges Crisis I

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

What can I say… I recently finished Pokemon Pearl, and from that I rediscovered Pokemon and from there, I rediscovered Team Rocket. :) Let's face it, those guys are some of the most funny characters I've ever seen. And seriously, they have a much better character built than the main characters, with sad pasts and their evil-good complex… The problem is that the authors of the anime seem to forget that…

--'' Well, basically, the idea spawn from re-reading James' profile. The guy has Pokemon waiting for him a bit all over the world. So… Well, no point in reading notes. Just read the story! Enjoy!

_Prologue_

"Hmmm… This sure takes long… Atchoom!"

A little cold. Things that happen when you walk around in a damp forest wearing nothing but a light outfit and a scarf. That was something James didn't like at all, even if he had gotten used to it over the years. And another thing that he hated was passing trough forests all alone. But there he was, walking alone in a cold forest. No talking Meowth, no Jessie… Just him, the cold and the forest.

"I should have brought something to wear over this thing… Even if I don't possess other clothes. Damn, I didn't remember Kanto to be still this cold, in April…" Yep. Kanto. James was back in Kanto, alone. Why? Let's say that he took a vacation to go visit an old friend. It all started a week before, in Sinnoh…

_Flashback_

_Pappaparaparaparaparapara  
Pappaparapappaa! (Wobbuffet!)_

"… _James… What the hell…"_

_Pappaparaparaparaparapara  
P-Q-R-S Team Rocket!_

"_Ehm… It's my Pokenav's call tune…"_

"_YOU GOT A POKENAV?!" Jessie looked ready to jump and strangle the hell out of her companion, remembering all the times they were forced to look for a cabin to make even the shortest call._

"_Ehm… It's really particular. It can only call and be reached by certain numbers." The violet haired man picked the Pokenav out of… Where? There are no visible pockets on the Rockets' uniforms… Whatever. He got the thing in his hand and opened it. "James here…"_

_Young master, good morning._

"_Ah! Eiji! It's good to hear you!"_

"_Eiji?" Whispered Jessie to Meowth, lowering her head towards him. Meowth whispered back…_

"_I think it's the old man we met some time ago… You know, the one who takes care of his family's vacation home along with his wife…"_

"_Ahhh…" Jessie remembered of that occasion, and then returned her full attention to James._

"_You haven't called in a long time. What's the matter?"_

_Eheheh… A joyful one, young master.__ James blinked. Why was Eiji being so enigmatic? __I'm happy to warn you that your friend, that you have left with us some time ago, is now in full health conditions._

"_E-EH? YOU DON'T MEAN…!" Suddenly, James heard a very familiar sound coming from the Pokenav. A sound that he had stopped hearing ever since the little Pokemon that produced it fell ill. "Chimecho!"_

_Exactly, young master. He's up and well. And he's eager to see you again._

"… _I'm so glad! I'll come as soon as I can!"_

_Of course, young master. We will wait for you. Have a nice day._

_James closed the call and turned, beaming, to his companions._

"_Great news! Chimecho has healed! Shall we go?!"_

"…"

"…"

"… _Hm?" James blinked at the stares of his companions. And they were stares that told him 'Are you out of your mind or something?'. "What?"_

"…" _Jessie put a hand over her eyes and began to massage her poor temples, which she felt were about to burst. "James, answer this question. Where in the world are we, now?"_

"_Ehm… The region of Sinnoh?" James didn't know… Oh. Wait. He was starting to._

"_And… Where is de place where you left your Chimecho?" Asked Meowth, who was just crossing his arms. With claws and an enormous head is a bit difficult to massage your temples._

"_Ehm… A mansion near Saffron city, in the region of Kanto?"_

"_Right… THAT MEANS THAT BETWEEN US AND THERE THERE'S A BIT OF DISTANCE!"_

"_Well… I can just take a ship to Jotho's Olivine city from Sunyshore city, and then take another from there to Kanto's Vermilion city. From there, it's an easy trek to Saffron and my vacation's house."_

"…" _Jessie and Meowth suddenly blinked… What James had just said actually made sense. It was a thing that could be done. "B-But what about de twerps! We…"  
_

"_Come on. We've been following them for… I don't know how long. I think we can take a break once in a while." James had suddenly become very wise and cunny. What one does for his Chimecho… "Think about it like this. I will be away like, what, two weeks at most, and in the meanwhile, you can do everything you want like I hurry to run back here as soon as possible. You can work to replenish our finances, go to parties… Be normal people for once. I mean, it's been ages since we took a break from work."_

"… _If you put it like that…"_

_End flashback_

"Sniff… I sure hope Motoko has just finished cooking some chicken soup or something because… ATCHOOM! I'm gonna need loads of that stuff, if this keeps up." James resumed what was finding incredibly easy at that moment. Doing the 'Teeth-machinegun' dance. Trembling and making the sound of a machinegun with his teeth because of the cold.

"Well, not chicken soup… But we just cooked some veggie soup. Of the kind you always loved, young master."

"Eh?" Before James could turn around, he had found his whole body wrapped up in a warm blanket. When he turned around, he recognized the smiling face of the man who had been his vacation home's caretaker since he had been a child. "Eiji…"

"Come on, young master. The soup will get cold… And your friend and my wife just can't wait to see you." The old man moved a branch out of the way, and James finally was basked in the vision of the mansion's sight.

**Journey of a thousand James**

**Chapter1: Family reunion… Run for your lives**

"ATCHOOM!"

"Chiiiiiiime!"

"Eheheh… Chimecho, I suppose you should restrain yourself from wrapping yourself around the young master's head, at least till that nasty colds passes."

"Sniff… Listen to Motoko, Chimecho. You'll just keep on getting blown away, otherwise…" Good thing that James had learned to turn away from his soup each time he sneezed, otherwise it would have all ended up on the floor way before Chimecho's fifth attempt at 'hugging' James around the head.

"So, how are things going for yourself, young master? Still with Team Rocket?"

"Yeah… Sniff…" James rubbed the underside of his nose. "It's not like I can just leave it out of the blue… Leaving alone my companions, on top of that…" James took another big spoon of soup before continuing to talk. "We're currently travelling in Sinnoh… Ah, and I stumbled upon another of my family's old vacation homes. I found another of my old friends… I won't call him out because he would hug me in his own way… Around my head."

"Ahahah! Your old Carnivine! What a pleasant surprise!" Eiji laughed and took a sip of water from his glass. "And what about our Mime Jr? Is he being a good Pokemon?"

"Of course! Together, we even managed to win a Pokemon Orienteering competition… AT-CHOOOOOM!" James turned around before he could send everything on the table flying. This last sneeze was a lot stronger than the other ones. "Damn cold…"

"Things that happen when you walk around in just that light outfit and a scarf, young master…" Motoko had returned from another room with a bundle of clothes in her hands. "Since I suppose that tonight you will be staying with us, we prepared you a room. Here are a pyjama and some clothes that it would be good for you to wear, when you leave tomorrow."

"Ah… Thanks." James took a tissue and blew his nose loudly. Eiji chuckled.

"Seriously… I understand the importance of the uniform and all, but you should carry other clothes with you, young master… By the way, how did you manage to take two boats without getting arrested? I mean, that big red 'R' is a dead give away…"

"Ehm…" James blushed a little and scratched the back of his head, while Chimecho wrapped itself around his forehead, this time. "I hid in a couple of crates…"

"…" The elderly couple stared at him for a couple of seconds. Then, sniffed the air. "Young master… What was in those crates?"

"… Sardines."

"…" Eiji got up from his seat, and with the same grace and gentleness of a marine sergeant said… "You. Bathroom. Warm water. NOW." James saluted and then hurried to the bathroom.

--

"Ahhhh… So niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice…"

"Chiiime..."

"Miiiiime…"

"Carnnnnnn…"

James felt in heaven. It had been ages since he had taken a real bath in a real bathroom… Especially one as big and luxurious as the one he was using at that moment. One could really see his family's level of wealth from that bathroom. It was huge, to use one word. And it was made out of marble and gold only. Yes, gold. You heard right. The tubes, the taps, the very doorknob were made out of gold. And the bathtub had a wonderful whirlpool bath. So, James decided to share that moment of pure bliss with his Pokemon… Well, Carnivine had to be persuaded to leave his head alone, before enjoying the warm water.

"Sigh… You know… Sometimes I miss this kind of life…" Said James, leaning his head back into the water, on the edge of the bathtub.

"Mimemime!" Mime Jr's tone was like 'You bet!'.

"… But then I remember about the forced studying, the imprisonment days… And the forced engagement to Jessiebell…" At that, the trainer and two of his Pokemon shivered. Chimecho just let out a 'Chime?'. Among the occupants of the bathtub, he was the only one who didn't met Jessiebell at least once in his life. Carnivine had been with James ever since he was a little kid, and Mime Jr… Well, he met her one time when his parents came to the house along with the girl… It wasn't pretty. "And I say to myself 'Vive la liberté'." Saying this, James stood up in the bathtub and walked out of it, and then enveloped his lower half in a towel… But suddenly, he heard the door of the bathroom opening and a voice.

"Bathroom, bathroom, gotta clean the bathroom…"

"Eh?"

"Uh?"

James turned around towards the door… And he witnessed that a girl had just entered the bathroom. She was wearing a maid outfit and holding a mop and a bucket in her hands… The girl herself had noticed that there was someone in the bathroom… Then, she noticed something that James had remembered. He was half-naked. They stared at each other…

"…"

"…"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

"CAAAAAAAAAAARN!"

"MIIIIIIIIIIIME!"

"CHIME!" The Pokemon believed it was a screaming contest or something.

"S-SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO… KYAAAAA!" Letting the mop and the bucket fall to the ground, the girl ran out of the bathroom while covering her face, now deep red, with her hands, while James fell back into the bathtub. He could hear some other voices coming from outside.

"OH MY… GIRL, I'VE TOLD YOU TO LEAVE THE BATHROOM FOR LAST! THE YOUNG MASTER IS BATHING IN THERE!"

"I'M SO SORRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

"…" James slowly got into a sitting position in the bathtub, and he stared at the now opened door, blinking. "What the hell did just happen?"

--

After getting dressed in his pyjama and a robe, James returned to the living room, where he found Eiji scolding the maid with his wife trying to calm him down, while the poor girl kept on muttering apologies in a bowing position.

"Ehm… Something happened?"

"And another… Ah, young master."

"Ah! S-S-Sir James!" The girl returned into a standing position for one second before bowing again, to him, this time. "I-I-I-I-I'm so sorry for what has happened before!"

"Ehm… It's no big deal…" James said, flushing a little and scratching the back of his head. Then, he smiled awkwardly, still a bit uneasy talking to the girl. "Ehm… Who are you, exactly? You weren't here, last time I was here…"

"Eheheh… Her name's Jill, young master." Replied Motoko in place of the girl, who was still bowing down to him, and of her head he could see just her black hair. "She's a camper girl… She offered to work here for a while to earn some money. When you arrived we had sent her to buy some things in Saffron. That's why you didn't see her before she rushed into the bathroom to clean it."

"I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooooorryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…" Eiji groaned and covered his face with one palm.

"She's a hard worker… But sometimes she's just clumsy. And raise your head, before you get a hernia!"

"Y-Yes!" Jill returned into a standing position, but she was still embarrassed, and so, she kept her gaze on the ground. Like he had seen before, her hair were black, cut just under her chin, and she had hazel eyes. "I-I'm sorry… I forgot what mister Eiji had told me…"

"Ehm… It's okay. Like I said no big deal…" James tried to cheer her up a bit. "I mean, it could have been worse. I could have been naked…"

"N-Naked?" The girl raised her head… Then she blushed even more and ran out of the room. "KYAAAAAAAAAA!"

"…" James sweatdropped. That girl had some strange issues. Motoko just chuckled.

"Poor girl, she's so uneasy around men her age… It seems like she just gets along with us and her Pokemon." The old woman then turned to James. "Your old room has been prepared for you. We wish you a good night, master."

"Thanks. Good… ARGH!" Suddenly, all his Pokemon glomped him in their own personal way. Hence, James was currently on the ground, blindfolded by Chimecho, bitten by Carnivine and hugged around the legs by Mime Jr. "GUYS, I DIDN'T SAY WE WERE GOING TO SLEEP TOGETHER! AND EVEN IF WE ARE TO, I'M NOT GOING TO SLEEP BINDED LIKE THIS!"

--

"Sigh… I'll never understand why just certain kinds of Pokemon like me so much…"

In the end, James had ended up in his bed with Chimecho wrapped around his forehead, Mime Jr under the covers with him and Carnivine cuddled up above him. And the grass-type Pokemon could rival a Snorlax, when it came to snoring… But, nonetheless, James felt that sleep was about to take him.

"Mhhh… It's better to get some good sleep…" James let out a loud yawn and cuddled up against his cushion. "Tomorrow will be eventful."

And James just didn't know how much.

--

"Hmmm… Good morning, Eiji."

"Good morning, young master. I take you slept well?"

After sleeping in a real bed, James was about to take part to something that he had not done in a long while… A true, large, satisfying breakfast. And he could see Pokemon food too, at the tables. Good thing he had not put his Pokemon back in his Pokeballs yet, since the hungry monsters immediately dug into the food, much to James' sweatdropping.

"Ahahah. Quite lively, your Pokemons, young master." Motoko, with the help of Jill, was bringing even more food to the table. James felt his mouth already watering, so, he sat at the table and started digging into the pancakes. Jill, still blushing like the previous day, put in front of him a cup with some hot tea inside. James took it and took a sip.

"Mhh… Black tea… Two spoons of sugar… And a drop of milk…" James then blinked and turned towards the maid. "Hey. How do you know I always take tea like this?"

"Ehm… Lady Motoko told me." Jill lowered her head once again.

"Ah. Well, thanks anyway." James smiled at her… And the girl ran out of the room again. "… Seriously. What's her problem?"

"As I said yesterday, she's just very uneasy around men her age. Especially attractive ones like young master." James scratched his head while Motoko chuckled.

"Mmmmh… I guess… But it's kinda childish behaviour. I mean, I acted like that as well… But I was like, 10?" James passed to the french toasts and put some syrup on his pancakes, before continuing to eat.

"Eheheh… Yes. And I remember that Growlie… …" Motoko had suddenly stopped talking, but James didn't give it much thought.

"Yeah… He always nudged me in the back with his paws, trying to make me stumble into the girl I was being shy about." James chuckled, and then put a hand on the paw that was nudging him in the left side. "Hey, that tickles, Growlie… … …" James blinked. And then realized what he had just said. "… Growlie?"

"Growlithe!"

"…" James felt his brain's gears turning at light-speed, giving him in two seconds the answer he was searching for, the only possible explanation to why Growlie could be there. And the hypothesis was confirmed by Carnivine and Mime Jr trembling in fear.

"What a surprise! We were thinking about paying a visit to our vacation home…"

"But this is really a bonus."

"…" James slowly turned around. And he took in the sight of two people that he would have never wanted to see till they changed their minds on a certain thing… His parents. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Hohoho… James, is this the way to greet your parents after all the time we haven't seen each other?" His father laughed while stroking his moustaches. Then, he turned to his wife. "Hon, would you mind calling…"

"I'm already on it, dear." James' mother had gotten out of her purse a Pokenav, and was searching for a number. "The girl is probably in Sinnoh, but, I bet she will get here in less than three days, when she hears that our beloved son is here."

"AAAAAAARGH! NO! DON'T CALL HER!" James practically begged his parents. He knew that they were about to call the bodyguards who were outside too to restrain him till that… That… That sadomaso freak Jessie-wannabe with the name of Jessiebelle arrived there.

"Nonsense, James. Your fiancée has all the right to know…"

_**GONG!**_

"! Honey! What…"

_**GONG!**_

"…" James and the other occupants of the room had shifted from terrified to… Surprised. Really, really surprised. Because, in the laps of time of three seconds… Jill had hit both his parents in the head with a frying pan, causing them to go unconscious on the ground, with big, smocking lumps on the back of their heads. "… Jill… Why… Did you do that?"

"B-Because these unknown persons were being mean to mister James?"

"Hnnn…"

"AH!"

_**GONG!**_

James winched for his father, who had not fallen unconscious on the first hit. That had to hurt. In the meanwhile, Eiji was twitching.

"Girl… I don't know if I should praise you because you just saved the day or scold you because you just hit the young master's parents…"

"I… WHAT?!" The girl immediately began to shake like rag dolls the unconscious couple, completely out cold. "I-I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO... I DIDN'T KNOW!"

"Alright, let's calm down for a bit…" James brought his hands in front of his face, while his Pokemon, Growlie included, were gathered around him. "My parents are not going to be out for long. And I need to run. Runrunrun."

"And I think you need to run too, dear."

"E-Eh?" Motoko was talking about Jill. The girl had turned to the elder woman, confused.

"You hit them with a frying pan in the head and knocked them unconscious. If you're still here when they wake up, they'll throw you in the mansion's dungeon for sure."

"… NOOOOO! WHAT HAVE I DOOOOOOONE!" The girl exploded in tears. Everyone who could, plugged his/her ears.

"Girl, just shut up! You'll just have to go with the young master!"

"Eh?"

"What?"

"Say that again?"

"Chime?"

Everyone turned to Eiji.

"I refuse to send you out again on your own, young master. You can't cook very well for your own, and you're not expert at doing chores. The girl, even if clumsy, has a certain experience with them, by now, other than being a camper. And since she still has left two weeks of paid work to do, I will assign her to you."

"B-But I can't bring her with me! I mean…" Eiji had that look that meant 'It's final'. James just groaned. "Whatever! I've got to get dressed and pack! Jill, meet me at the exit in twenty minutes!"

"H-Hai!" Jill bowed and hurried to her room, to pack and dress up like she had been said to do. James pulled out three Pokeballs.

"Get back in the Pokeballs, guys! It's time to return!" He pushed the three buttons on the Pokeballs one after the other and made Carnivine, Mime Jr and Chimecho return into their Pokeballs. And he was about to hurry… When he felt something pull his leg. "What now… Eh?"

James turned around… And he saw Growlie pulling on his leg, biting on the trousers of his pyjama. He had an angry stare.

"… Growlie…"

"Don't you think it's time to listen to your heart, young master?" Eiji had talked again. James turned to him. "This would be the third time you left him behind. And I think he's opposed to that as much as he could."

"… But…" James tried to say something, but returning to look at his pet, his words got stuck in his mind.

"We know that you think that he would be better off with your parents, in his luxurious house…" Motoko continued for her husband. "But… Is that how you feel about the matter? Or how Growlie feels about it?"

"…" James stared at his Growlithe, who didn't look he was about to let go of his leg anytime soon. James tried to mutter an answer. Then, he just sighed. "I warn you, Growlie. There will be no more good Pokemon food to eat three times a day." The Growlie, like he had understood what James had just said, raised his head, expectantly. And one could see him very happy, when he saw James holding a vacant Pokeball in his hand. "Together again, Growlie."

"Growl!" James let the ball fall towards Growlie. The ball bounced on his nose once, and opened, enveloping the Pokemon in a flash of red light, completing the capture. James then kneeled down and took the Pokeball back in his hand. He stared at it a bit… Then he smiled.

"Alright! Now, let's get packed!"

"I'll prepare some new clothes for you to wear as well, young master!"

--

"… I don't know…"

"They suit you well, young master."

"Absolutely. My old PIs' clothes look great on you."

Indeed. PI clothes. James was now wearing a long, dark red trench-coat, with a hat of the same colour with an horizontal stripe around it of an even darker shade of red. Under it, a white shirt tied with a black tie, quite loosely tied. Then, a pair of grey trousers and yellow polish shoes.

"I didn't know you previously were a Private Investigator, Eiji…" _Hey… Don't tell me he's one right now too…_

"Private Eye, young masters. It sounds better."

"Yes. They look good, mister James." Jill had changed as well. She was now wearing her usual camping clothes… Even if they usually called girls like her picknickers. A hat, a jacked and a pair of shorts all of the same colour, aquamarine, with a red emblem on the hat and a red foulard. Then, a couple of low shoes, aquamarine too, worn over a pair of dark blue long socks.

"Hmmm…" James suddenly grinned. He took a Pokeball and let out Growlie, and then put one hand inside his right pocket and the other on his hat, enjoying the image reflecting into it. "A private eye and his loyal track hound… Don't we look cool, Growlie?"

"Ehm… Mister James? Should we go? To dodge the bodyguards outside we will have to take a longer route from behind the mansion…"

"Yes, sorry." James let go of his hat and turned to Eiji and Motoko. "It's been nice meeting you two again. Thanks for what you've done for me and for taking care of Chimecho. Take care."

"Of course, young master. We will."

"And, girl… Take care of the young master."

"Y-Yes." Jill bowed deeply. "Goodbye." Then, carrying her backpack, she hurried towards the backdoor of the mansion. James picked up his own from the ground and ran after her, followed suit by Growlie. The elderly couple smiled at them, and watched them go till the door got closed.

"Well… I suppose we should clear ourselves from any possible accusations like the young master suggested." Eiji picked out of nowhere a frying pan. His wife imitated him.

"We certainly should. On the count of three…"

_**GONG!**_

_**GONG!**_

--

"So… Were are we heading to, mister James?"

"Please, just call me James. You make me feel like I am my father."

"Groooowl…" Growlie shuddered. It wasn't a happy thought at all. James becoming like his father… What if he tried to marry him to a Delcatty?

"Alright… So?"

"Sigh…" James scratched the back of his head. "I have to return to Sinnoh as soon as possible. I have a couple of friends waiting for me, there…" Then he turned to Jill. "Are you sure you want to follow me around?"

"Y-Yes. After all the good things that mister Eiji and lady Motoko did for me, including paying me in advance… It's the least I can do."

"Hmm… As you wish." James put a hand on his chin. "Now, I bet that my parents will put a surveillance around all the docks of Vermillion's city." James sweatdropped at that. They had did so, once, when he had gotten lost in the city. "So, I will have to modify the travel route."

"Well… The point is getting to Olivine city in Jotho, right?" James nodded.

"Yes. And from there, take the ship to Sunyshore city in Sinnoh. But first thing, we have to find a way to get to Jotho."

"Well, the fastest way is… The Magnet Train." James blinked at her. Magnet what? He had never heard of anything like that... Well, he had been away from Kanto for a while. Noticing his puzzled look, the girl flushed a little and began to talk again. "The Magnet Train… It has been built recently. It's a high speed train that travels from Saffron city to Goldenrod city, in Jotho. It takes a day an a half. It's two times faster than the ships. And on top of that, it's free."

"Wow… Good. Very good! Heard that, Growlie?!" The Pokemon yapped in approvation. "Then, let's arrive to Saffron and take one right now!"

--

"A… Pass?"

"Yes, sir. To board the Magnet Train you need to possess a pass." While the assistant kept on smiling, James threw to Jill a look that said 'You didn't tell me about that.'. The girl just blushed and kept her head low. "To get one, you have to pay 10000 yen and submit a request to our company, and the pass will be ready in three days."

"THREE DAYS?! B-BUT… I CAN'T WAIT THAT MUCH!" _My parents will already have caught me by the first day, if I remain in Saffron city for that long! And on top of that, I don't have 30000 yen!_

"Hmmm… This requires a keen eye…"

"Eh?" James turned around… And almost jumped out of his outfit. Standing behind him, there was a perfect copy of himself, clothes included, and even Growlie was identical. His Pokemon was as surprised as him, and Jill had outright screamed… Wait. Why was there another, smaller Growlie, on top of the bigger one? "… What the…"

"Ahahahah! Surprised? It's my specialty. Imitating people, I mean…" Suddenly, the James clone waved his trench-coat around himself… And in place of James' copy, there stood a girl with green hair tied in two pigtails. And in place of the two Growlie, two Dittos… "The name's Duplica."

"…" _Wait a minute… She's familiar. Green hair… A Ditto… A mini Ditto… Mini… Mini-dit? … !!_ "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" James got even more scared than before, and screamed pointing his right index finger at the girl. He knew her alright. He, Jessie and Meowth had kidnapped both of her Pokemon, one at the time.

"Uh?" Duplica just blinked… Then began to glare. "Hey! I'm not ugly! I know I'm not a beauty, but…"

"Nonono! I just… I just thought you were someone else! You looked like someone I knew! Yeah, that's all! Ahahahah! To tell the truth, I find you pretty! Very pretty!" _Thanks god, no one ever recognizes me as long as I wear something on my head or over my face… Even if it doesn't make sense, it's pretty useful._

"Hmmm…" Duplica observed James' face, like to see if she could read that he was lying on it… Suddenly, she smiled and got back in a standing position. "Alright! I believe you! So, what's your name? I can't call you 'guy who has a problem with the train', right?"

"Ehm… My name is James. This is Growlie…" James patted the head of his Pokemon, and the with the other head pointed in the direction of Jill. "And this is Jill. She's travelling with me."

"It's a pleasure! Well, from what I've heard, you want to board the train… But you need a pass, right?" James nodded… And then sweatdropped when the girl had picked out one of those very passes. One that they needed. "Guess what? I have one right here! Aaaand… I'm inclined to make a bargain!"

"A bargain?" James blinked.

"Yes. You see. I'm a performing Pokemon trainer, and I travel a lot… But my house is actually here in Saffron city… And it's the place where I keep all the dolls I collect during my travels!"

"Dolls?" James blinked.

"Dolls?" Jill blinked.

"Growl?" Growlie blinked.

"Yes, Dolls! I collect them! I just love to!" Duplica hugged her Dittos, who had transformed into a couple of Clefairy dolls. "While I travel, I always look for dolls! I've got a lot of finished collections! Except…" Suddenly, James flinched. Duplica was angry, all of a sudden. "Except for the first Generation Psychic one! All because of Sabrina!"

"Sabrina?" Another familiar name… James sweatdropped. He hoped it wasn't another person who he had tried to Pokemon-theft…

"Yeah! Sabrina! The Gym Leader of Saffron city! That damn, ugly, mean girl… She likes dolls too, and she has two copies of the one I need to complete that collection, the Alakazam golden special… But she doesn't want to trade! And I know she's doing it on purpose! I know she is! As a revenge because, unlike me, she never had the occasion to really become a collector! ARGH! Last time I asked her, know what she said? '… Beat me in an official Gym Challenge and I'll give you the thing'."

"And… You tried?" Duplica suddenly slumped, at Jill's question.

"Yes… And I lost in an awful way." Duplica sniffed a little. "So, here's the deal! Since you're a Pokemon trainer, beat Sabrina and earn me that doll and I will give you this extra pass! Alright?!"

"…" James blinked. Then, he stared at the girl like she had just grown a second head. Then, he freaked out. "YOU WANT ME TO WHAT?!" Jill plugged her ears for safe-keeping.

"Then, it's a deal! When you're done, pass by my house! Just ask for Duplica's house! Everyone in town knows me! See ya!" And with that, without even giving James the chance to retort… Duplica walked away waving at them, like she had just asked them to go and shop for that night's dinner. James was still pointing at where she previously was, his jaw hanging. Jill waved a hand in front of his face and he seemed to regain some colour.

"W… I mean… What the hell?!" James shifted his head left and right a number of times, to Jill and to the place where Duplica had just been standing moments before. "She asked me to… Beat a Gym Leader?!"

"Yes… I think she did." Jill just nodded. James shifted his head some more.

"B-But… Why would she?! I mean, I don't look nothing like a Pokemon trainer! Where did she get the idea that I'm a Pokemon trainer?!"

"Well… I think…" Jill moved her gaze to Growlie, who was observing James smiling. "Because she saw Growlie… I mean, even by looking, you can tell that he's a pretty strong Pokemon."

"Well, duh, he is… But the problem is, me. I don't look nothing like a Pokemon trainer. I mean, my clothes… …" Then, James remembered. He was no longer wearing his team Rocket clothes. They were in his backpack because he needed to be disguised. He was wearing Eiji's PI clothes. He remembered the scene he had done in front of the mirror… And slumped his head, groaning. "Yes. Growlie and these new clothes make me look like a really cool Pokemon trainer, I guess…"

"Yes… So, what should we do?"

"…" James huffed. That was a mess. He knew that his Pokemon were strong… It was him who was weak and absolutely not a good Pokemon trainer. But… He really didn't have a choice, did he? "… I think… I should at least go and see the Gym."

--

"… It's creeeepyyyy…"

"Master James… It's just an entrance…"

But James was still freaked out. The Gym was shaped… He didn't know how. It was like they were a number of tents fused together, all plain white. It creeped him out greatly. He wasn't advancing towards it not even of one step, even if Growlie was pushing with all his might.

"Come on, Master James… You want to challenge the Gym Leader or not?"

"Ehm…" James needed to think of an excuse. "But… Maybe after collecting some informations about this Sabrina? Like, her age, what kind of Pokemon she uses, how many trainers before me have managed to get a badge…"

"Sabrina is 21. She just uses Psychic Pokemon, and her Gym has given just one medal ever since it opened." James sweatdropped and almost facefaulted, when his plan was destroyed by an unknown voice. He slowly turned around. It was a man with tanned skin and a black beard, wearing a pair of black trousers and a white shirt over a couple of black polish shoes. He was standing in the shadow of one of the strange pointed pillars of the entrance of the gym.

"Ehm… Thanks." Weakly said James. "And… How do you know all of those things?"

"Well, a father knows a lots of things about his daughter, doesn't he?" The man grinned, and James blinked. So, that man was… The father of this Sabrina girl he was supposed to defeat? "So, you want to fight Sabrina? Do you have at least another badge?"

"Eh?" James had been doing that a lot, that day. How come new things kept on popping out, that day? "What do you mean?"

"Sabrina doesn't let anyone challenge him, if the trainer doesn't have at least a badge earned from another Gym." James groaned.

"Great… So, basically, no train… We'll have to run…"

"Hn?" The man had raised an eyebrow at that. What did that man mean, by that? Suddenly, he walked towards him. James and Jill jumped a little, at that. "Hold still."

"Eh…" James suddenly felt that, even if he wanted to, he was unable to move a single muscle. He was stuck in that position… And he didn't understand why… Maybe it had something to with the fact that the man's eyes were flashing red and staring directly into his own ones? After a few seconds, he stopped. "… I see… You're here for the doll, but… Like you've thought previously, you have no chance."

"I knew it… Hey. Wait a minute. How…"

"Psychic powers. Run into the family. That's why Sabrina loves Psychic-type." Suddenly, the man crossed his arms in front of his chest. "So, let me get this straight. You have four Pokemon. And out of them, just two are strong enough to face Sabrina's ones. On top of that, you don't have another badge needed to challenge her, and, you're not even a real Pokemon trainer. And you want to challenge Sabrina, who has never lost a Pokemon battle in her whole life?"

"…" James stared at the man, and gulped. Psychic powers… A good way to bring out everything one despised about his own self. He dropped his head. Jill gasped, and then turned to the man a bit angry.

"S-Stop being so mean to the young master! … And… If Sabrina has never lost a battle in her whole life, why did she give someone a badge?"

"Words hurt only when they're true, young lady… And, that badge was handed out… Let's say as a gift of thank you." The man kept on staring at James. _It's a shame… It's probably because of how his life turned out. Because, one thing of a good Pokemon trainer is there…_ "… Don't ask me why… But I want to help you out."

"What? You want to…" Suddenly, the man held out his right hand… And something appeared in it out of nowhere. James recognized the device. The twerp always carried it around. The man suddenly tossed it to him. "Is this…"

"A Pokedex. If you want to fight Sabrina, learn how to be a trainer, first." The man crossed his arms again. "Now… To challenge Sabrina, you need to have at least another badge. I'd suggest you to head to Celadon city. If you hurry up, you'll be able to get the last bus there."

"Celadon city? Why there?" Asked Jill, bringing a finger to her lips.

"Because Erika, that city's Gym Leader, specializes in Grass type Pokemon." James blinked and then sweatdropped at the memory of another Grass-lover Gym Leader he had recently met. "Once you beat her… Or better, if you beat her, she could give you some tips about how to train your Carnivine."

"… You think he needs it?" The man nodded.

"Your Growlithe and your Chimecho, with just a bit more of training in real combat, should stand at least a chance against Sabrina's Pokemon… But you need three Pokemon to fight against a Gym Leader. And sending an highly umprepared one…"

"I would never do that! That was another reason why I didn't want to try this!" Even if James let out that kind of outburst, the man just stood there, unfazed. The rocket suddenly returned his gaze to the ground. "I… I don't want my Pokemon to get hurt…"

"I know. That's why you should train your Carnivine really hard. It's better than sending in a Mime Jr. against Sabrina's Pokemon." James stared at the man… And the nodded.

"Alright. Autobus. Celadon city. Gym leader. Train Carnivine a lot. Gotcha." Jill took a real note of all that, while James just a mental one.

"Yes. Now, go. Or you'll lose the bus."

"R-Right! Let's go, Jill! Growlie!"

"T-Thanks!" While the two youngsters hurried away along with the Growlithe, the man stared at them… And suddenly, he sighed.

"I really have nothing to do, nowadays, if I start helping out Rockets. Now I need a new Pokedex… I almost miss when Sabrina turned people into dolls."

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

With plans in mind, James arrives in Celadon city… But he's still not really sure about the whole 'challenging Gym Leaders' thing… So, he asks Jill to help him out with some battle training… Bad idea. Stay tuned!

Notes:

The tune is the English lyrics of one ending of the anime, Maemuki Rockettodan.

The elderly couple's names are never voiced. So, I decided to use the names of their Seiyuu (Voice actors).

While it's canon that there's a connection by ship between Vermilion city and Olivine city (Pokemon Gold/Silver), it's not confirmed that there's one between Olivine city and Sunyshore city. But the presence in Sunyshore of Jasmine in Pokemon Pearl/Diamond, Olivine city's gym leader, is a big hint.

For an image of James' clothes: bulbapedia./wiki/Gamer (Diamond and Pearl version)

For an image of Jill's clothes: bulbapedia./wiki/Picnicker (Ruby and Sapphire Version)

**James' Pokemon**

Since James will be using his Pokemon for more things than being a comical joke, in this fanfiction, I thought that it would be useful to give out their levels. This is something I made up on my own, though, by comparing the list of the moves known by James' Pokemon and the Pokemon's learnset tables from Diamond and Pearl.

_Growlie(Growlithe)_

_Type: Fire_

_Level: 36_

This was probably the easiest to calculate. We've seen Growlie fight against Jessiebelle's Vileplume, and use Flamethrower. According to the tables, a Growlithe learns Flamethrower at level 34.

_Chimecho_

_Type: Psychic_

_Level: 39_

This can look like an exaggeration, since it would make Chimecho James' strongest Pokemon, after Cacnea, but it's not. In the anime, Chimecho has been seen using four moves. Astonish, Wrap, Heal Bell, and Double Edge. Now, while Wrap is a starting move for a Chimecho, and Astonish is learned at level 9, Heal Bell and Double Edge are learned, respectively, at level 38 and 33! Add that Chimecho has got to have gained at least a little exp while travelling with James… Well, you got yourself a very powerful Psychic-type Pokemon.

_Carnivine_

_Type: Grass_

_Level: 25_

This was a bit more tricky. In the anime, we've seen Carnivine use, till now, the attacks Bite, Bind and Bullet Seed. Bind is a starting move for Carnivine, and Bite is learned at level 7. Bullet Seed, instead, can just be taught by TM, to a Carnivine. So, I had to reason. I saw that most Pokemon learn Bullet Seed at a level between 17 and max 29. So… I guessed that 25 was a reasonable level.

_Mime Jr_

_Type: Psychic_

_Level: 21_

This was easy, even if, according to the games, a Mime Jr shouldn't be able to learn Teeter dance. Oh, well… We've seen Mime Jr use Tickle and Mimic too. Mime Jr learns Mimic at level 18.


	2. The Badges Crisis II

Woot

Woot! Thanks for your reviews! And I'm happy to have brought people who usually don't like Pokemon fandom to it too. Well, ready to see the second chapter of this story? Of this 'Journey of a thousand James'? Enjoy!

_I'm happy to warn you that your friend, that you have left with us some time ago, is now in full health conditions._

"_E-EH? YOU DON'T MEAN…!"_

"_Well… The point is getting to Olivine city in Jotho, right?"_

"_Yes. And from there, take the ship to Sunyshore city in Sinnoh. But first thing, we have to find a way to get to Jotho."_

"_Well, the fastest way is… The Magnet Train."_

"_A… Pass?"_

"_Yes, sir. To board the Magnet Train you need to possess a pass."_

"_So, here's the deal! Since you're a Pokemon trainer, beat Sabrina and earn me that doll and I will give you this extra pass! Alright?!"_

"_YOU WANT ME TO WHAT?!"_

"_Alright. Autobus. Celadon city. Gym leader. Train Carnivine a lot. Gotcha."_

**Journey of a thousand James**

**Chapter2: Even Pokemon take steroids**

"Mhhh… Darn, it's like I'm forgetting something… No, two somethings. I'm forgetting a couple of things… About this city."

"Well… Do you have any hints about what it could be?"

"Well, the first one… I think it had something to do with a perfume… And the second one… With a switch…" James scratched the back of his head while thinking about that. They had arrived at Celadon city at late night, and they had stayed at the Pokemon center. And James had discovered that being a trainer paid off. Free healing and food for your Pokemon, and free beds and food for the trainers. Wow. After having breakfast, they had began to walk in town, trying to find the Gym. People were nice enough to give them directions, fortunately.

"Perfume… Maybe it has something to do with that?"

"Uh?" James looked in front of him. There it was, the Celadon gym, just like it had been described to them… In the shape of the head of a Gloom. James sweatdropped. But it wasn't that that Jill was referring to. It was the building near it. It was obviously smaller than the Gym, and there was a sign above it. 'Perfume shop'. And it sounded vaguely familiar, to the violet haired man. "… You know… You could be right."

"Wanna go in, master James?"

"…" James suddenly felt uneasy about going into that shop. It was like something was tugging at the corner of his memory… But he didn't know what, exactly. Growlie was staring at him in a strange way. "… Why not?"

"Alright." Jill led the way to the shop, followed suit by Growlithe and James. The glass doors of the shop opened automatically, and a girl immediately greeted them.

"Welcome to our shop."

"Ah… Thanks." James took a step back. The girl looked vaguely familiar. Dark green hair tied in pigtails… And tha uniform, pink with a touch of yellow on the hips… Very familiar.

"Were you looking for a particular perfume?" Asked again the girl, smiling. Jill smiled back at her.

"Not really… Master James seemed attracted to this place, and we wanted to check it out."

"Eheheh… Attracted? Men are attracted to this shop for two things. The perfumes or the shop-keepers." James blushed… Then, he noticed that Growlithe was sniffing the air around with a smile on his face.

"Wow… That's strange. Usually, Growlie can't bear any kind of perfume." James sniffed the air as well. The perfumes were really good, indeed… But… Why did the make him feel even more unease?

"That's probably because they were all chemical perfumes." James turned his head to the right. Another girl had appeared. Same uniform, long blonde hair tied in a long ponytail and with a cute blue ribbon. _Another familiar face? I'm certain… I've already seen this place._

"Our perfumes are exclusively Pokemon made." James got up while another girl came into sight. This one had hair of a darker shade of violet than James. She was carrying a little slice of paper. "I think your Growlithe will find this particularly nice." She kneeled in front of Growlie and made him sniff the slice of paper… Growlie smiled with a dreamy look on his face.

"Eheheh… I knew it." James observed the scene with a puzzled look. The girl noticed this. "Something the matter?"

"No… All these perfumes… And this place… The gym too… I'm sure I've already been here, but I just can't place why or when…" James scratched the back of his head.

"Hmmm… Well, maybe we should call the owner. She has a fabulous memory. I'll call her. Karen, in the meanwhile, give him a sample of our special." The violet haired girl said to the blonde haired one, and then headed to the back of the shop.

"Sure, Laura." Replied the blonde haired one. Then, she turned to the green haired girl, who handed her a little bottle with some perfume inside. "Thanks, Jean." Karen opened the bottle and leaned it under Jill's nose. "Try. Inhale."

"Hmmm…" Jill sniffed a little the perfume… The opened her eyes in surprise. "Wow! This is probably the best scent I've ever… Smelled?"

"Eheheh. This is our special, an exclusive secret formula produced thanks to our head's Gloom." At that, James flinched… And he didn't know why. Or better… It seemed like it was coming back to him slowly. The girl suddenly handed him the bottle. "Try."

"…" James was nervous. Very nervous. But, nonetheless, he took a sniff of the perfume… Yes, it really was the best scent he had ever smelled… And that was the problem. It was like the perfume was the key to a door he had shut in his head subconsciously. And everything about the circumstances that made him to know that place and the Celadon Gym. "… The… The arson…"

"Oh?" Karen seemed surprised at that, taking again a standing position. "Yes… Some time ago we got an arson at the Gym… Because of a couple of members of Team Rocket…" The girl darkened visibly at that. "Those damn… The leader's Gloom almost got…"

"…" James was sweating visibly.

"Here we are! May I introduce you to Erika! Shop's owner and Celadon's Gym leader!"

"Eheheh… Enough with the titles, Laura. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"…" James turned around, frightened out of his mind… Behind him was standing a person he knew well. He had already seen her wearing that kimono and that wig. And he had seen her fighting with her Gloom, the same that was standing beside her in that moment, in her Gym… The Gym he, Jessie and Meowth had put on fire. "NO!"

"Ah!"

"M-Master James?!"

James run out of the shop so fast that the automated doors almost didn't open in time, followed suit by a barking Growlie, under the surprised stares of everyone in the shop.

"M-Master James! Please, excuse me!" Jill bowed and then ran after James… But, unlike him, she hit the automated doors with the face once, before they opened. Then, she ran outside.

"W-What was that about?" Stuttered Jean.

"…" Erika stared at the place where the man had been just a few seconds before. Even if she had seen just a glance of his face… He was familiar.

--

"Anf… Anf… Anf…"

James had kept on running till he ran out of breath… Almost half an hour of running. He had stopped in a park, under the shade of a big tree, seated on the ground with his back leaned on it. Growlie was sitting beside him, whining in concern for his owner. After James had regained enough breath, he removed his hat and turned to Growlie.

"It's nothing, Growlie… Don't worry…" He took another deep breath. "It's just… Something that I locked away from the first time I began a Rocket… And since I kept on being a Rocket everyday of my life… I didn't really have time to think about… What that little door in my mind hid… Two little things called guilt and conscience…"

"Grrrooowliiiiithe…" The Pokemon looked at James with a sad stare. James just held his hat in front of him, and he stared at it… Like it was showing him his whole life.

… _Yeah… Thinking about it… Back then, at the peak of my criminal life… I was really a bastard. I had become everything I despised, if I think about it. Uncaring about other people's wishes and will. Just like my parents…_ James sighed deeply, and he put it back on his head. "I don't know… It kind of looks like… That all those times I lost to those twerps were something I needed… Since it was when I first met that brat and his Pikachu that I began to go lower and lower in the crime scale… Me and the others have softened, since then."

"Grooow…"

"…" _The point is… How come I had this break-up right now? … What a stupid question. Stealing and kidnapping is a thing, even if they are still bad, no one gets hurt… But in that arson people and Pokemon could have died._

"Grow?"

"Uh?"

James raised his head… And he noticed that a ball had gotten out of a bush on his right. Out of it suddenly came out a Pokemon as well. It was like… A smaller version of Pikachu.

"A Pichu?"

"Piii…Chu!" The Pokemon took the ball and walked back into the bush with it. James got back into a standing position.

"What was that about… …" James stopped talking because he had suddenly been deprived of the sun… Or better, another shadow had appeared above him. He raised his head… And he and Growlie got the hell away from that spot before a tree fell on them. James ended up on his butt, on the ground. "W-W-W-WHAT THE!"

"M-Machamp, stop!"

"Eh?!" James turned in the direction of the voice… And he saw Jill trying to make a Machamp reason. And from the rock he had just thrown away, James guessed that it was him who had almost flattened him.

"I asked you to help me find Master James! Not to clear my visual and then beat the crap out of him!"

"Maaaaaachaaaaaaaaaaamp!" Machamp growl meant something like 'But it's so fuuuun…'. Suddenly, Jill noticed him.

"Master James… AH!"

"Machamp?" The Machamp turned in James' direction… And both him and Growlie shivered in fear. And started to scream when the Machamp began to run in their directions.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"GROOOOOOOWLITHE!"

"MACHAAAAMP!"

"W-WHAT HAVE I DONE! RUN, MASTER JAMES!"

"NO NEED TO TELL ME! GROWLIE, LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

James began to run in the direction opposed to Machamp's one, in the trees, just in time to dodge a bench thrown in their direction. James had never ran faster in his life. It was like trying to outrun a Katamari. And he had played that game.

"Helpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehelpme… Eh?"

The bunch of trees of the park had finished. He had found himself in an open space… Well, semi open. Because there was something that had been built, there. A… Kindergarten. Just a little, low wall separated the space between the actual building and the wall from the park. In the middle of the space he could see various children and Pokemon playing on swings, in a sand-box, other things… Including the Pichu he had seen before, who was playing with a little girl with red hair.

James reasoned the following line of thought. There was a crazy Machamp, probably on steroids, judging that he was taller than the usual Machamp with 6'5'', and/or caffeine after him. And from what he had seen till now, if he kept on running, going around the kindergarten, the crazy Pokemon… Would just cut straight trough it, rampaging to create more things to throw at him. So… He did the first thing that came to his mind.

"Children! Get out of here!"

"Eh?" Almost every children in the kindergarten turned towards him, observing the strangely dressed man jumping over the small wall.

"Hurry! There's a crazy Pokemon coming this way!"

"Ahhhh!"

"What… !" Seeing a boy scream in fear and pointing at something above him, he instinctively turned around… And he saw a tree falling his way. _If that thing falls above one of the children…_ "Growlie! Use the flamethrower on that tree!"

"Grooooowl… Iiiiithe!" The fire Pokemon inhaled and then let out a huge stream of flames at full strength, managing to stop its momentum while burning it. The tree fell on the wall, breaking in half over it.

"What is happening here?!" The kindergarten teacher had noticed all the fuss. He walked out of the main building just in time to see Machamp getting out of park. "Holy…"

"Hurry! Run inside, children!" The children obeyed, some screaming in fear. And James, even if he really wanted to do the same, knew that if he did so, the Machamp could have destroyed the building just to find some more projectiles. So… He swallowed. _I've got… I've got no choice._ Trembling a little, he pulled out a Pokeball, while Growlie barked menacingly at the approaching Pokemon, who had just walked right trough the little wall. _I'll have to fight! _"Carnivine, come out!"

James launched the Pokeball, which opened in half in mid air and released his grass type… Who immediately chomped on his head.

"ARGH! Carnivine, not now! We have to fight!" The Pokemon noticed the rampaging Machamp almost immediately, and let go of James.

"Carn…"

"Growlithe!"

"… Carnivine! Growlie! Use Bite!" James' two Pokemon launched themselves at the bigger one, mouths open and ready to Bite.

"Maaachamp!" But Machamp just swung two of his arms and swatted them away like flies before they could even attempt to Bite him.

"Growlithe!"

"Caaaaaarn!"

"Oh, no… Argh!" After taking care of his two Pokemon, Machamp had immediately targeted James, sending him fly for some meters and then rolling on the ground with a backhanded slap. James lost his hat while doing this. "Ugh…"

"M-Master James!" James raised his head… And he saw Jill coming out of the trees. "I-I'm sorry! He never listens to me!"

"J-Jill! Go and look for help!"

"Eh?! B-But…"

"Hurry! I will not be able to stop him for much time!" James slowly got back on his feet.

"…" Jill stared at his bruised self for a couple more seconds, then nodded and ran away. James winched. That hit had hurt him bad.

"Darn…" _With those four arms… I suppose it's impossible for Carnivine and Growlithe to approach him enough to use Bite or other close range attacks. I'll have to attack from a distance._ "Carnivine! Bullet seed!"

"Caaaaaaarn!"

The two Pokemon took some distance from their enemy, and then the grass-type attacked. Carnivine's rain of seeds was directed at Machamp's front. The Pokemon shielded himself with his arms, reducing the effect of the attack to a minimum.

"Growlie! Get behind him and use Flamethrower!"

"Grooooowliiiiiiiiiithe!" Growlie sprinted behind the bigger, distracted Pokemon, and then did a little jump. The Flamethrower hit the Machamp from above, completely enveloping him in flames.

"Machamp!"

"Alright! Great job!" James cheered. That attack had had to hurt. When Growlie landed back on the ground, the attack ended, Machamp was standing there, with his arms still shielding his front. He was smoking, literally. Growlie's Flamethrower had hurt him, it seemed. But… Suddenly… It moved. And James noticed a strange gleam in his eyes.

"MACHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMP!" And James almost wet his pants when he heard him shout in that way. He was angry, it seemed. And suddenly, he went after Growlie, trying to chop him from above. Growlie dodged… And good thing he did. The Machamp's hit had created a little crater in the ground, because of the hit's strength.

"W-What… He seems stronger than before!" Suddenly, James' Pokedex fell out of his right pocket, opening pointed at the Machamp, who was still trying to hit Growlie. Then, a digital voice began to talk.

_Machamp's special ability. Guts. When Burned, Paralyzed or Poisoned, Machamp's attack grows._

"WHAT?!" James turned his attention to the battle again. His Pokemons kept on dodging Machamp's attacks, but suddenly the Pokemon stopped and raised his four arms up in the sky.

"MAAAAACHAAAAMP!" And suddenly, he slammed them all into the ground. And seismic vibrations began to raised chunks of earth from the ground. One slammed right into Growlie, who had lost his footage because of the attack.

"Grooowl!"

"Growlie!" The Pokemon fell back to the ground and rolled to James' feet, unconscious. "Oh, no! Growlie!" James hurried to his Pokemon. He was hurt badly. He had felt that attack. "He knew Earthquake…"

"Machaaaamp!" The Machamp was punching his own chest in triumph. James stared at him and at Growlie alternatively.

"… Darn it!" _I knew it! It's all my fault! I'm not a good trainer! And I probably never will! Challenging a Gym Leader?! I can't even protect myself or my Pokemon…_ "…"

"Nii-san!" James suddenly turned around, and he saw that some of the children inside the building had got out of it, and were cheering him on, it seemed. "Don't give up, nii-san! Beat him!"

"Yes! Defeat him! Avenge Growlithe!"

"Don't surrender! Nii-san!"

"…" Even some of the Pokemon were cheering him on… James gritted his teeth and took out Growlie's Pokeball, making him return into it. "… I'm sorry…" He got back in a standing position… And he grabbed two other Pokeballs. "I'm sorry, Growlie… Carnivine, Chimecho, Mime Jr… But this time, I really cannot run! Come out!" James threw high in the air two other Pokeballs, releasing Mime Jr and Chimecho. The two Pokemon, strangely, like they knew what was going on, had not hugged James, but had immediately faced the Machamp with a fierce stare.

"Maaa?"

"…" _If they get near, he will swat them away. If we're too far, he'll use Earthquake… And while it has no effect on Chimecho and Carnivine, it has effect on Mime Jr, me… And the building. The point is, this battle cannot go on any further!_ "Chimecho! Use Astonish!"

"Chiiiime!"

"Maachamp!" Chimecho launched himself at Machamp. The bigger Pokemon was about to punch him away… But suddenly, he stopped, scared out of his mind by the sudden scary face made by Chimecho. "Machamp!"

"Alright! Carnivine!" James pointed his right index finger at Machamp. "Use Vine whip and tie his feet and arms!"

"Caaaaarnivine!"

"Ma?!" Carnivine did as told, managing to do so thanks to Machamp's distraction. He tied together the fight type's legs, and his arms to his sides, two and two.

"Now, pull! Make him fall down!"

"Carniviiiine!"

"Maaachamp!" Carnivine pulled with all his strength, and Machamp fell to the ground.

"Chimecho! Use Double-Edge… On his face!"

"MA?!"

"Chiiiiiiiimeeeeeee!" The Machamp's eyes suddenly bulged out of their sockets, like he had understood what James had just said. And he screamed in fear when he saw Chimecho approach… And hit him straight in the face. The little Pokemon got hurt a little as well, but nothing serious compared to the damage it had done.

"Mime Jr! The final blow! Use Copycat!" James suddenly launched Mime Jr up in the air. The little Pokemon closed his eyes and got enveloped by an azure light. "Double-Edge! To his stomach!"

"MACHAMP?!"

"Miiiiiiime…" The little Pokemon suddenly launched himself towards his opponent, on the ground, who was trying to struggle against Carnivine's bindings, but to no avail.

"MACHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMP!"

"MIIIIIIIIIME!" Mime Jr hit his target head on, adding gravity to the power of his own attack, delivering a devastating blow to the Machamp's stomach. The fighting type screamed in pain and then passed out.

"… I did it… I did it!" James trusted his right punch high in the air. "No, we did it! You've been fantastic, everyone! We…"

_**BUMP!**_

"Miiiime…"

"Beat… Him…" James had forgot that Mime Jr had bounced back because of the strength of the blow. The little Pokemon had hit him straight in the middle of the forehead… He fell to the ground, unconscious.

--

"Chiiiime… Chiiiime… Chiiiime…"

"Hmmm… My head…" James brought his right hand to his forehead, massaging his temples with his thumb and index finger, with his eyes still closed. "Hnnn… I hope your Heal Bell can make that go away, Chimecho…"

"It can't. But I have a perfume that should do the trick."

"!!" James jumped in his bed, recognizing the voice… And then howled in pain when his head reminded him what had happened to it. The blue haired girl sweatdropped at him and passed a small bottle of perfume under his nose. James instinctively sniffed it… Then inhaled it deeply.

"Better?" Erika closed the bottle while James nodded and let his head fall slowly back on the pillow of the bed. They stayed silent for a while. James held an arm over his eyes. He could only see the body of Erika, noticing that she had changed out of her Kimono to her more casual, green clothes. And she had probably removed the black wig too.

"… My Pokemon?" Asked James.

"They're all well. Your Growlithe will have to rest here in the Pokemon center for a couple of days, though. He's exhausted."

"…" James let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief. Erika just kept on observing him. And he knew it well. "Where am I?"

"The Pokemon center. It was the closest place for you to rest into. You don't have anything broken, fortunately. And your Chimecho's heal bell should have healed all your bruises. He finished using it some minutes ago." Erika smiled at him, but James still couldn't see it. He refused to move his arm from his face.

"… Why?" Erika stared at him some more, her smile never leaving her lips. "I mean, it's impossible that you haven't recognized me. I'm without my hat, now. And that day we dropped in front of you…"

"Yes. You were quite adamant about us imprinting your faces in our memories, before that talking Meowth used the detonator." Erika leaned in a bit, and leaned her face on her hands. "But, imagine the scene. 'Agent Jenny, please arrest the man that has just protected the kindergarteners from a rampaging Machamp on steroids because almost two years ago he tried to put on fire my gym and steal my secret formula'. I think that she would have a lot of inner fighting."

"… Not if you told her that I'm from Team Rocket."

"…" Erika just kept on observing the man who was still covering his eyes.

"It's been ages since I did something as bad as that arson, but…" James gripped the sheets with the hand that was still leaning on the bed. "I kept on trying to steal and kidnap Pokemon. And before meeting those twerps, I even had a wanted poster on my head. I even attacked Pokemon centers."

"…" Erika was not smiling anymore, but, her look wasn't angry or anything. She just kept on listening to James.

"Maybe I now understand why I kept on following that brat, even if every single time his Pikachu or some other Pokemon sent me flying into the stratosphere…" He kept on tightening and loosening the grip on the sheets. "Because… Unconsciously… I wanted to keep on following him. On doing that, on failing… So that I wouldn't have time to do other things… More serious things. More horrible things. Even from behind a closed angle of my head, my conscience kept on having an effect on me."

"…" A small smile returned on Erika's lips. "You know… That perfume isn't exactly a medicine for headaches…"

"… What do you… OOOOOOOOOW!" James shot his head up. The headache was back, even worse than before. Erika just kept on smiling, this time with her eyes closed.

"It was a perfume that prevented you from lying. So, I'm sure that everything you've said till now is the truth. Here's the real medicine." Erika took out another bottle and made him inhale. The headache went away immediately, and James shook his head from side to side. "They think of me as a sweet and compassionate girl… But I can be pretty devious and strict too. Ask that to Ash… Or the 'twerp', as you call him. To fight against me, he was forced to cross-dress, don't you remember?"

"…" James thought about it… The brat dressed as a blonde haired girl… And what an imagination for the names. Ash became Ashley… James began to laugh under his breath at the memory.

"That's what I thought too." Erika returned into a sitting position, then sighed deeply. "Well, the arson was not a big deal, since the building had been built to be especially resistant to fire. With all the trees and grass-types in my gym… But…" She suddenly turned serious and flinched James' nose.

"Ow!" James brought his hands to his nose. Erika seemed pretty offended by something.

"Because of you, I did something I regret. I gave away a badge." James rubbed his nose while the girl stared at him angrily. Suddenly, she crossed her arms over her chest and her right leg over her left one. "Without a fighting, I mean. That's against the rules, you know."

"W-What do you mean?"

"…" Erika groaned and put a hand on her head. "I got carried away when Ash saved my Gloom, and I gave him the Rainbow badge as a thank you… But a Gym Leader isn't supposed to give away badges as gifts. I'm fortunate no word of this reached the League…" She rubbed the top of her head, her lips pushed in a pout… "I mean, Ash has never defeated me, and when I think about it, I doubt he would have, at that time…" Suddenly, she got angry again and grabbed the scarf of James' hospital gown. "And all because of you. If you hadn't put the Gym on fire, it would have never happened."

"Ehm… Sorry?" James said, his voice a bit nasal because he was still holding his nose with his hands.

"No. It won't be enough." Erika kept on staring into James' eyes. "I want to fight you in an official match. That's what you came here for, anyway, right? At least, that's what that girl told me."

"Ehm… Yes? Ah… By the way, where's Jill?"

"J… Oh, right! I was almost forgetting. She was punished for the rampage of her Pokemon… She's gonna have to work for three days for a demolition company." James facefaulted in his bed.

"… By the way… Was that Pokemon really on steroids?"

"Yep. So, about the fight, what about tomorrow at 10 am?"

"Alright…"

--

The following morning… Back in the clothes he was wearing, hat included, he was standing in front of Celadon's Gym. Like Erika had said, Growlie had needed to rest, for that day.

"… Too bad. Growlie is a fire type… Against her Pokemon he would have been a great asset…" Then, James had a flash of Ash's battle against Erika. "But the twerp had a fire Pokemon too, and he was about to lose nonetheless… Sigh. I guess Gym Leaders are something else…" _And on top of that, I bet that, since the battle with the twerp, she has gotten even stronger._ "… No point in just standing here. Here we go."

James walked towards the Gym's entrance doors, that opened automatically. He found himself in a forest, basically. He kept on walking trough the natural corridor till he reached a large space with white stripes on the ground, delimitating the arena for the fight. It was different from that time, though, James thought. While back then it was just a vacant area without anything particular, it now included part of the forest, with threes and such. He looked around. Erika was right in front of him, at the other end of the arena, while the other girls were all around it.

"You've arrived. Good." Erika had her arms crossed over her chest. "Know the rules already?"

"Ehm… Kinda not." Replied James, scratching the back of his head.

"We're gonna use three Pokemon each." Erika held out her right hand with three fingers raised. "Pokemon can be returned during the fight, of course. Wins the one who manages to take out all of the opponent's Pokemon first."

"Hmmm… Alright. Ehm, just one more question." Erika blinked at him. James scratched the back of his head. He really was about to ask an awkward question. "Compared to two years ago… How much stronger have you and your Pokemon become?"

"…" Erika blinked twice more at James… Then she smiled warmly. "A bit… And… Thanks for not asking how much my Pokemon have become."

"…" James put a hand on his hat. "You're welcome."

"Ah-ehm! Alright!" Karen was going to be the referee. "Let's begin this official league match! Gym Leader Erika versus challenger Trainer James! Choose your first Pokemon! The first to choose is the Gym Leader!"

"Let's begin." Erika immediately pulled out her first Pokeball and hurled it at the center of the field. "Tangela!"

"…" James observed while the Pokemon, who always looked like an amount of Blue Vines with a pair of eyes and red boots, to him, appeared at the center of the arena. Even if he knew that the Pokemon had gotten stronger since then, James remembered about the twerp's battle with the girl. _With this Tangela there's just one rule. Don't get caught in his vines, or it's over. Trapped in them, the twerp's Bulbasaur got showered in Paralyzing powder. I have to use a Pokemon that can somehow dodge them or counter them someway._

"Opponent James, please, your first Pokemon!"

"…" James pulled out a Pokeball in his hand, and pressed the little white button to make it enlarge. Then, he hurled it at the center of the field. "Mime Jr!"

"Mime!" The baby Pokemon jumped out of the Pokeball and landed in the middle of the field, staring at Tangela fierily… Well, or at least he tried too. To the girls in the room, he was just a cute little thing, as confirmed by their squeals. The only one who had stayed silent was the Gym Leader.

"Eh?" Erika raised an eyebrow. _Mime Jr? I thought that he would have tried to fight using just Chimecho and Carnivine… A baby Pokemon against my Tangela?_ "A strange choice, I must say."

"Not when I have a plan… Yawn!" James let out an enormous yawn, covering his mouth with his right hand. _I was up all night reading things on the Pokedex… I hope it was worth how tired I am._

"Tangela versus Mime Jr!" Karen was holding a little flag in her right hand. She lowered it in front of her. "Begin!" Erika decided to let James attack first.

_Phew. I guessed right. If she had attacked first, I would have lost before even starting, I think._ "Mime Jr!" James trusted his right hand, palm opened, forward. "Use Meditate!"

"Eh?" Erika was surprised again. Meditate? Indeed, it was the attack the little Pokemon used. Mime Jr sat down cross-legged on the ground, and got enveloped by a red aura. _Meditate is a move that raises the Pokemon's attack… But that Pokemon's attack is probably very low. Why would he? … Nevermind._ "Tangela! Vine whip!"

"Mime Jr! Dodge!"

"Mime!" The baby Pokemon jumped out of the way and dodged Tangela's whips.

"Keep on running, Mime! Keep on dodging!"

"Again, Tangela! Vine whip!"

"Tangela!" Erika's Pokemon's vines kept on cracking around the field, but Mime Jr was fast enough. He always managed to dodge them barely.

"Good, Mime Jr!"

"… Tangela! Use Vine Whip on both of his sides!" And the Pokemon obeyed. He used his two Vine whips and basically cut off both ways of running of Mime Jr, forward and behind. "Now, I got…"

"Now run towards him, Mime Jr!"

"… What?!" Erika and the other girls just couldn't understand what was going on James' mind. He had just told Mime Jr to run towards Tangela? And the little Pokemon was doing exactly as told. "A-Are you crazy or what?!"

"Are not! Mime Jr!"

"Miiiime!" The little Pokemon had approached Tangela, who had just retracted his vines, and was ready to strike again…

"Use Tickle!"

"T-Tickle?"

"Tickle?"

"Tan… TAAAAAANGELA! TATATATATANGELAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Indeed, Tickle. The poor Tangela was currently crying tears of laughter, while all the girls in the arena and around it facefaulted.

"… ARE YOU GOING TO FIGHT SERIOUSLY OR NOT?!" That was the first thing that Erika said after getting back on her feet. "Tangela! Use Wrap!"

"Tangelaaaa… Ta… Nge… La…" Mime Jr had just finished using his Tickle attack, and Tangela was regaining breath. Mime Jr began to run away, but Tangela had regained his breath fast, and let out his whips again… And this time, Mime Jr couldn't manage to avoid it.

"Got him! Lure him, Tangela!"

"…" James was silent, while Tangela made the struggling Mime Jr approach him. _A little more… A little more…_ In the meanwhile, Erika was confused.

"…" _Didn't he have a plan? Or was it a bluff?_ Tangela had made Mime Jr approach him completely. The two Pokemon came face to face. "Your Mime Jr loses! Tangela! Finish him with the sleeping…"

"Mime Jr! Break free!"

"Eh?" Erika had stopped talking because of the nonsense James had just said… And her jaw almost touched the ground when Mime Jr did indeed break free from Tangela's wrap. "EH?!"

"You got careless! Mime Jr!"

"Miiiime!" Mime Jr distanced himself a bit from Tangela, like he needed to gain some momentum from a run-up.

"Double Slap!"

"Miiime!"

"Tangelaaaaaaa!"

The baby Pokemon fiercely attacked his opponent, effectively Double Slapping the hell out of him with each blow. After the fifth blow, Tangela rolled on the ground, unconscious, 'X' in his eyes.

"…" The referee was as shocked as the other girls in the room, but she got out of it rather quickly. "T-Tangela is not able to fight anymore! One point for Mime Jr and trainer James!"

"Alright! You've been incredible, Mime Jr!"

"…" Erika was staring at her opponent and his Pokemon with her mouth slightly open. She made her Tangela return to the ball in complete silence. _He really DID have a plan… With Meditate he increased Mime Jr's Attack, while with Tickle he lowered Tangela's Attack and Defense, lowering the strength of his Wrap attack and making Mime Jr able to take him out with Double Slap…_ Erika suddenly smiled, she didn't know exactly why. _To make a baby Pokemon win against a trained Pokemon thanks to planning…_ She felt a shiver going trough her spine. _Wow… I think it's been years since I've been this excited for a fight!_ "I underestimated you… But it will not happen again!"

"I know. That's why I'm making Mime Jr return." James did as told, and then, sweating, put the ball back on his belt. "The same plan can't work twice, right? More than a victory, this is a draw, since I will not be able to use Mime Jr again, in this battle…" Erika chuckled, and took out another Pokeball. James did the same, extremely worried. _The real battle begins now…_

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

James and Erika continue to battle! Will James be able to win? Or will the more expert Erika triumph? Stay tuned!


	3. The Badges Crisis III

Third chapter

Third chapter! I'm glad that this story is being liked, and that I managed to not exaggerate with James' characterization till now. I always thought that James would be a good trainer if he focused just on fighting, and not on stealing, fighting and running at the same time. Well, enjoy this third chapter!

"… _The… The arson…"_

"_Maaaaaachaaaaaaaaaaamp!"_

"_Children! Get out of here!"_

"_Imagine the scene. 'Agent Jenny, please arrest the man that has just protected the kindergarteners from a rampaging Machamp on steroids because almost two years ago he tried to put on fire my gym and steal my secret formula'. I think that she would have a lot of inner fighting."_

"… _Not if you told her that I'm from Team Rocket."_

"_I want to fight you in an official match. That's what you came here for, anyway, right?"_

"_Ehm… Yes?"_

"_T-Tangela is not able to fight anymore! One point for Mime Jr and trainer James!"_

"_I underestimated you… But it will not happen again!"_

_The real battle begins now…_

**Journey of a thousand James**

**Chapter3: Evolution! Remember to bring shampoo!**

"And my next choice is… Victreebel!"

"…" James stood there while Erika summoned her second Pokemon from the Pokeball she was holding in her hand. The grass-type let out a high screech, once it appeared in the middle of the arena. _A Victreebel… Hmph. It reminds me of the one I once had. Well, Chimecho is my trump card since Growlie isn't around, so… _"I'll… I'll fight grass with grass! Carnivine, I choose you!" James hurled his Pokeball… And he found Carnivine around his head after two seconds.

"CARNIVIIIINE! NOT NOW!" The girls chuckled. When James finally managed to make the Pokemon let go of his head, he was gasping for air.

"It seems your Pokemon is quite fond of you." Erika chuckled as well. James readjusted his hat and glared at Carnivine.

"Carnivine… Fight first. Chomping on my head, NEVER."

"Carnivine!" The Pokemon hadn't understood the second part, since it seemed like he had just dismissed the thing. James palmed his face and groaned.

"Victreebel versus Carnivine!" Karen lowered the flag again. "Begin!"

"Victreebel! Let's test your fellow grass type! Use Razor Leaf!"

"Carnivine! Bullet Seed!"

"Viiiictreebel!"

"Caaaaarnivine!"

The two Pokemons launched their attacks. Leaves met seeds in mid air. The attacks seemed to cancel each other out, since not one single leaf or a single seed had managed to reach either of the two Pokemon, even if they kept on firing projectile after projectile.

"… Victreebel! Stop and get out of the way!"

"!" Erika's Pokemon had suddenly stopped its attack, and had bounced out of the way of Carnivine's one. While he was still in mid-air, Erika gave him another order.

"Acid!"

"Viiiii!"

Victreebel shot a long stream of acid out of his mouth, that headed for Carnivine.

"C-Carnivine! Dodge!"

"Caaaarn!" Carnivine jumped… But he didn't make it in time. The stream of acid still hurt him. "Carn!"

"Carnivine!"

"…" _Found that Pokemon's weak point._ "Victreebel! Use Vine Whip!"

"C-Carnivine! Use his same attack!" James' Carnivine got back standing again, and lengthened his vines at the same time as Victreebel. The two exchanged blows like two characters from a Dragon Ball episodes, under the stares of their owners and the rest of the audience. "… They're even matched…"

"Wrong! Victreebel! Speed up!"

"Viiiictreebel!"

"What?!" Suddenly, as told by her owner, Victreebel gained more speed in his attacks, to the point that Carnivine couldn't counter them anymore, and he soon found Victreebel's vines in his face. "Carnivine! React!"

"Don't let him go, Victreebel!" Erika's Pokemon did as told, and grabbed Carnivine with the same vines that he had just used to whip James' Pokemon with. "Now, Victreebel! Finish him with Slam!"

"Vic!" Victreebel jumped in the air, and then, pulling with his vines, began to descend towards Carnivine. "Treebel!"

"N-No! React, Carnivine! Use Bullet Seed!" James incited his Pokemon to react, knowing very well that a Victreebel could be very heavy.

"Caaaarn!" James' Pokemon obeyed and started firing seeds at Victreebel, but even if they hurt the enemy Pokemon, they did nothing to stop his momentum. Victreebel slammed hard onto Carnivine. Really hard.

"Carnivine!" James hurried to his Pokemon's side, checking on his status, while Karen gave a point to Gardenia.

"I'm so sorry… What, what happened? They seemed even, at first…"

"It's quite simple, James." The young man turned his head towards the Gym Leader. "Your Carnivine was slower than my Victreebel, that's all."

"… Slower…" James thought about that, and then began to stare at the ground. "Damn it… It's all my fault, Carnivine. I should have trained you more. Now, return and rest." James held out Carnivine's Pokeball and made him return into it. He got back on his feet.

"…" Erika observed his opponent, focused. _… He looks sad and uneasy… He doesn't have much trust in himself…_ "So… That leaves your last Pokemon."

"Yes…" _You're my last chance Chimecho… You'll have to defeat two Pokemon in a row… Including that Gloom. Her strongest Pokemon._ "Chimecho, go, my friend!"

"Chiiime!" The wind-chime Pokemon entered the arena… And immediately wrapped himself around James' forehead.

"… Chimecho, as much as I don't like your wrapping when it's this tight, I suggest you focus on your opponent."

"Chime?" It seemed that Chimecho had yet to understand that he was to fight. He turned around and saw Erika's Victreebel. "Chimecho!" He unwrapped itself from around James' forehead and floated into the arena.

"Chimecho versus Victreebel! Begin!"

"Chimecho! We attack first! Use Double-Edge!"

"Chime!" The small Pokemon threw himself at the opponent Pokemon.

"Victreebel! Dodge!"

"Vic!" Victreebel did as told. He dodged Chimecho's attack. The small Pokemon had to stop in mid air. Victreebel was still in midair.

"Let's try it again! Victreebel! Use Acid!"

"Viiic!" Victreebel let out another stream of acid against the small Pokemon. James knew that that thing had to hurt like hell.

"Chimecho! Use Uproar!"

"Chiiiiiiii… MECHOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Ah!"

"Ahhh!"

Everyone in the arena covered their ears. Chimecho's voice was very powerful. The sound waves generated by the attack were enough to make them cringe, and they were enough to make the acid lose enough force to not hit James' Pokemon.

"Hnnn…" James had plugged his ears with his index fingers for safe-keeping, and his hat had flown off, but he still kept his eyes on the battle. _Alright… Time for the truth. I hope that Chimecho knows that attack…_ "Chimecho! Please, use Confusion!"

"Chime? Chime!" Chimecho looked at his trainer a little surprised… But then smiled and began to focus.

"A Psychic attack?!" Erika was a little surprised. If that Chimecho knew Psychic attacks, why hadn't he used them against that Machamp from the previous day? _This is bad! Victreebel's subtype is Poison!_

"Chiiiiime… Chiiime…" Invisible to the eye, Chimecho sent a single ray of Psychic energy in Victreebel's direction. Erika's Pokemon winched a little… And suddenly his eyes went spiralling.

"Victreebel!" Erika called for her Pokemon, trying to get him out of his confusion, but it was already too late.

"Chimecho! Finish him with Double Edge!"

"Chiiiiime…" Chimecho prepared his attack, enveloped by blue energy… And then threw himself at the grass-type, at high speed. Victreebel, thought, had managed to react. He had gotten into himself again just before the attack.

"!" _Darn. Since Chimecho hasn't used that attack very often, it was not very effective. Now he will…_

"Victreebel! Sunny day!"

"Sunny day?" James was surprised by Erika's choice. She could have made Victreebel dodge… Instead, the Pokemon used Sunny day. He managed to create a little sun in the ceiling of the Gym, before being hit by Chimecho and passing out. Karen raised her flag again, giving James another point. Erika made her Victreebel return.

"You've done really well, Victreebel. Take a good rest." The blue haired girl put away the Pokeball, and then blinked when she met James' puzzled stare. She smiled. "What's wrong, challenger? You seem confused."

"… You could have made Victreebel dodge that attack." James stated more than asked.

"…" Erika smiled and then nodded. "Yes, I could…" Suddenly, she replaced her smiling face with a fierce one, while grabbing yet another Pokeball. "But… I have a plan too. I'll bet everything on my last Pokemon. And you should do the same, James!"

"…" _Here she goes… Her Gloo…_

"I choose you! Bellossom!"

"!! Bellossom?!"

To say that James was surprised was an understatement. He remembered really well that Erika's strongest Pokemon was a Gloom. But still, she was now pulling into battle that Pokemon's evolution. Bellossom. The powerful grass-type appeared gracefully in the middle of the arena, under James' bewildered stare.

"…"

"You're surprised, right?" James turned his stare to Erika again. The girl had her right hand on the respectful hip. "You remember about two years ago and you saw me yesterday with another Gloom… You thought that one still hadn't evolved."

"… You made your Gloom evolve? Why?"

"Because we wanted to become stronger, James. Gloom agreed with me, and I used a Sunstone… And here he is. Still my friend, still able to make that beautiful scent he is famous for… But much stronger."

"…" _This is bad… I hadn't prepared for a Pokemon like this one…_

"Here's a demonstration! Bellossom!" Erika trusted her hand forward.

"Beeeell…" Her Pokemon was dancing, it seemed. Chimecho just kept on floating in front of James.

"Solar Beam!"

"Beeellossoooom!"

"!! Chimecho, watch out! Ah!" James had to cover his eyes because of the blinding light caused by Bellossom attack. He heard an explosion and he felt dust and debris fly everywhere, his face included. When the light started to die down, he began to search for Chimecho with his eyes. "Chimecho!"

"Chime!" Chimecho had managed to dodge the attack, fortunately. He was floating a lot more up than before, but he was just bruised.

"Chimecho, you've dodged it…"

"Barely." James turned to Erika once again. She had her arms crossed over her chest, a serious look on her face. "The explosion still damaged him. He's not going to resist much."

"W-We'll see about that! Chimecho! Confusion!"

"Chiiiime…" Chimecho began to focus to prepare the psychic attack. But Erika wanted to say otherwise.

"It's the same as before! Too slow! Your Pokemon still isn't used to that attack! Mine, instead… Bellossom!"

"Beeell!"

"Petal dance!"

"Bellossoooooom!"

"!! Chimecho, watch out!" Bellossom began to rotate on himself, sending razor-like leaves flying everywhere around him. Chimecho interrupted the casting of Confusion, but he still couldn't dodge the attack.

"Chiiiiime!"

"Finish him, Bellossom! Solar Beam!"

"Beeeell… Ossoooooom!" The grass type summoned one more time his powerful attack… And this time, Chimecho was hit with bullseye.

"Chiiiime!"

"Chimecho!" The little Pokemon would have hit a wall, hadn't James jumped in the way of the rebound and caught him in mid-air. "Chimecho, are you alright?!"

"Chiiiimeee…" The wind-chime Pokemon gave a weak response with its voice. James just hugged him softly to his body.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" James felt his eyes began to water. "I knew it! I knew this was a bad idea! I only got you and Carnivine hurt! And for what?! We lost the same! Like always!"

"James! What are you talking about?!"

"Ah?" Hearing Erika's voice, James turned around to face her. The girl was staring at him, in an angry way.

"You still have a Pokemon! Or have you forgotten that?!"

"I… ! But I can't… !!" Suddenly, one of James' Pokeballs opened on its own. An angry Mime Jr came out of it, facing Erika and her Bellossom. "Mime Jr?! What are you doing?!"

"That's what I meant, and your Pokemon knows it better than me. You still have one Pokemon, James."

"B-But…" James got back on his feet, still hugging Chimecho. "Mime Jr is still a baby! And you've seen what I let Carnivine and Chimecho…"

"Stop doing that!" James interrupted himself again, because of Erika's angry shout. And her look was even scarier. "Stop pitying yourself! No one is giving you the fault of anything! Not when you've done everything you could!"

"But it still wasn't enough!"

"You're the only one who thinks that!" James was taken back again. Erika was still angry, then she shook her head. "James… Most people think that, to be a real Pokemon trainer, you only have to trust your Pokemon and make your Pokemon trust you back… But it's not true!"

"…" James was confused. He was sad, confused, angry with himself… A turmoil of emotions. But Erika still continued her speech.

"That… Is not enough! A real Pokemon trainer has to believe in himself! He never gives up! Because if you do… What will your Pokemon do?!"

"…" James slowly opened his eyes wide. He stared at Erika, then at the unconscious Chimecho in his arms… And then at Mime Jr. "… Mime… Do you… Do you want to fight?"

"Mime!" Mime Jr took another step towards the arena. James stared at him more… And then sniffed loudly, rubbing his tears off with one hand.

"Sniff… You know… I think I'm the most fortunate guy in the world…" He took Chimecho's ball and made the Pokemon return into it. "To have such… Good Pokemon as you…" He then kneeled on the ground and picked up his hat, setting it back in place. "You have guts… And I can't disrespect you by not making you fight! To the end, Mime Jr!"

"Mime Mime!"

"…" Erika smiled. "Now, that's what I've meant! Bellossom! Solar Beam!"

"Beeell!" Bellossom fired another Solar Beam. Right after that, the Sunny Day summoned by Victreebel disappeared.

"I'll say it for you, this time! Too slow!" Indeed, too slow. Mime Jr jumped out of the way easily, and the began to run around. "Mime Jr is much faster, compared to Carnivine and Chimecho!"

"I can see that… But! Petal Dance!" Bellossom began to rotate on himself again, sending leaves flying everywhere around the arena. "Does he have enough resistance to dodge all these petals?! My Bellossom can keep on dancing for an hour without stopping!"

"We'll see about that! Go, Mime Jr! Forward!"

"Mime!" Mime Jr kept on dodging the leaves, and on advancing towards his opponent, moving in a zigzag pattern. And much to Erika's displeasure, he had managed to reach Bellossom.

"Tsk…"

"Mime Jr! Double slap!"

"Mime! Mime! Mime!"

"Beeell!" Mime Jr managed to land three hits one after another, interrupting the Petal Dance and making him lose his focus. Suddenly, James pulled out his signature rose out of his right sleeve.

"Mime! Now, it's your turn! Prepare Solar Beam!"

"Miiiiiiime!" Mime Jr jumped back and then began to accumulate light in front of his mouth, much to Erika's surprise.

"He used Mimic…" _But I didn't even see him use it. Nor I heard James say to Mime Jr to use it… Ah!_ "Bellossom, prepare Solar Beam too! Don't tell me…"

"Exactly! It's another thing we planned ahead of time!" James held his rose in front of his face, a fierce look for the first time in his eyes since the beginning of the battle. "Me and Mime Jr agreed that if the Pokemon Mime Jr faced used Solar Beam, he would have used Mimic without waiting for my orders! And now…"

"Miiiime…"

"Beeeell…"

"Go, Mime Jr! Solar Beam!"

"Bellossom! Solar Beam!"

"Miiiiime!"

"Bellossom!"

The two Pokemon let out the same attack at the same time. The two beams met and began to push against each other, struggling to overcome one another. The two Pokemon kept on pushing, using more and more of their strength.

"…" _Go, Mime… Please… Do it for Chimecho and Carnivine too…_

"…" _We're not losing here, Bellossom._

"Beeee… Llossom!"

"!"

"Mime?!" Suddenly, Bellossom gave another push to his beam, and it overcame immediately Mime Jr's one, hitting him. Fortunately, the hit had been weakened enough to not take him out. He got back on his feet immediately, only bruised. "Miiiime…"

"Damn… As I thought…" James 'tsked', sweating a bit. "Your Pokemon can put off a better Solar Beam than Mime Jr…"

"You thought so?" Erika said, sceptical, but still smiling strangely.

"Yeah… And yesterday, I planned that if this happened, I would have immediately returned Mime Jr and retired him from the match… But!" James hurled the rose at Erika, who caught it in her hand, where it landed softly. "In respect for you… And for him… And for myself… I cannot retire!"

"Miiiime!" Mime Jr cheered at his owner. James smiled at him. Erika blushed a little for the gesture.

"Mime… I don't know how this is going to turn out… Nonetheless, we will go to the end!"

"Miiiiiiiiiiime!" Mime let out something resembling a battlecry, excited and at the same time happy.

"Yes! That's the spirit! Go, Mime… Uh?" Suddenly, Mime Jr got enveloped by white light… No, it was more like he himself had become the source of the light, that covered his entire body. And then… His shape began to change, to become bigger, taller… "Mime… Don't tell me…"

"!!" Erika was as surprised as James. _He's evolving… His Pokemon evolved in the middle of a battle…_

"Mi-ster Mime!" When the light died down, Mime Jr had changed, evolved into a bigger version of himself. Bigger and stronger.

"Mime… You've evolved…" James couldn't help but stare at his Pokemon, who was trying a few new mime moves with his hands… Then he shook his head smiling, and acquired again that fierce look. "Then, let's give a try to your new power up, Mister Mime! Prepare another Solar Beam!"

"!!" _This is bad!_ "Bellossom! Prepare Solar Beam too!"

"Beeeell…"

"Miiister…"

The two Pokemon began to gather light for their attacks again, but to the eyes of everyone in the arena… Mister Mime's globe of solar energy was bigger and brighter than Bellossom's one.

"Go!"

"Bellossom! Fire the Solar Beam"

"Bellossom!"

"Mister Mime!"

The two Pokemon let out their attacks again… But this time, Bellossom's attack was immediately defeated by Mister Mime's version.

"Bellossom?!"

"Go, Mister Mime!"

"Miiiiiiiiiiiimeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

"Beeeeell!!"

Mister Mime's Solar Beam connected with its target. Like Chimecho before him, Bellossom faced the beam and the consequential explosion, ending flying up in the arena and the landing on the ground again, his eyes in swirls.

"B-Bellossom…" Erika stuttered. Her last Pokemon was out. That meant…

"B-Bellossom… Is out of order!" Karen bit her tongue, hearing what the shock had just made her say. "Third point for James! The winner of this official Gym Challenge… Is trainer James!"

"… I won?" James had lost the fierce look, and had replaced it with an incredulous one. He turned to Mister Mime. "We won?"

"Miiime!"

"…" James had done a lots of things in his life, but, not only this was the first time in his life he had ever won an official Gym challenge, this was the first time he had ever fought like that, and it was the first time in a looooooooooooong while that he had won a real Pokemon battle. So, he did the first thing that came to his mind… He fainted on the spot.

--

"Hmmm…" Ash sighed deeply, and then slumped his face on the table, while Pikachu was sleeping. "I don't know why… But I feel bored…"

"You know… I'm kind of bored myself." Dawn was tapping her left fingers on the table, in thought, while she leaned her face on her right hand.

"Damn, something's strange… Amiss. Not even the sight of officer Jenny made me happy and dandy…" Stated Brock, flatly… And if a pretty girl doesn't have effect on Brock, it means that something is really, really, REALLY wrong. Hearing the approaching footsteps of the waitress, he didn't even turn his head around beforetime.

"Yeah… It's like something that we were used to hasn't happened in a while." Ash got back into a sitting position, because the waitress had stopped near their table. It was time to order.

"Are you ready to order yet?"

"Yes. We… …"

"…"

"…" Ash, Dawn and Brock had all slowly turned around towards the waitress, because they had recognized her voice… And they immediately recognized the girl, because of her long red hair.

"Oh. It's the twerps. So, your orders?" Jessie said like she had just greeted the milkman. The trio jumped in their seats, and Ash was pointing at the girl with his right index finger.

"AAAAAAAH! IT'S TEAM… OW!" Ash was expecting anything from the girl. Pulling out her Seviper, a pitfall to open under his seat, a metallic arm to kidnap Pikachu… But he surely didn't expect Jessie to bash his head with the tablet she was carrying.

"Twerp, you're bothering the other customers with your shouts. If you don't stop, I will have to ask you to leave." Ash rubbed his sore spot while blinking. And Dawn and Brock were blinking as well. 'I will have to ask you to leave?'. The trio stayed in silence for about thirty seconds before talking again.

"No pitfall?" Asked Dawn.

"No motto?" Asked Brock.

"No bringing excitement in my life ag… Ehm, no mechanical arms?" Asked Ash. Jessie groaned.

"Twerps, I'm trying to work, here. Just give me your freaking orders, and later we'll talk, if you want. It's almost closing time…" The trio blinked some more… And then complied, giving the girl their orders.

--

"Uuuuf! Cheers for the cook!"

"And you should taste his special."

Like promised, after taking their orders, since it was almost closing time and the snackbar was about to close, Jessie had sat down with the twerps at their table.

"So…" Ash patted his stomach. "What's with the… Not-acting like yourself? OW!" Tablet power bashes again.

"First, you don't know anything about my beautiful self." While Jessie acted high and mighty with Ash, Dawn and Brock snickered at his expenses. "Second… Well, we're currently taking a break from the whole Team Rocket thing. We're on a vacation, we could say. So, me and Meowth took some part time jobs to raise some money. I'm a waitress, while Meowth is working in a kindergarten. The children love him, he says."

"You and Meowth?" Dawn used a slightly sceptical tone. "What about the violet haired pretty boy?" Everyone turned to Dawn, hearing that last word. The girl felt everyone's eyes upon her and blushed red. "W-What?"

"You just called James a pretty boy." Stated Jessie. Dawn blushed even redder and turned around her head swiftly.

"A-And so?! He is!" Dawn stated, angry at the teasing people surrounding her.

"Every time we meet we try to steal a Pokemon or ten and you took your time to check him out?" Dawn blushed even redder to this new comment from Jessie and pulled her woollen hat all over her face, much to her friends' and Jessie's laughters.

"I can't believe this…" Ash rubbed away his tears, before calming down and resuming his talking. "So? Where is he?"

"James is the reason we took a break. Remember his Chimecho that he left in that mansion near Saffron city because it caught a nasty cold or something?" Ash and Brock nodded. They remembered that occasion. The guy had begged them to not tell the old couple there that he was in Team Rocket. Dawn didn't know about the occasion, though, so, she slightly pulled up her hat to uncover her ears. "Little more than a week ago, that old couple called him and told him that he was healed. So, James decided to go and pick him up."

"Wow… He took his time to go back all the way to Kanto to pick up his Pokemon? He must be really affectionate to him." Stated Brock, crossing his arms over his chest. Jessie did the same, but with a bit of indignation on her face.

"Me and James love all our Pokemon, without exception. You should have realized this recently." Jessie had an angry tone. This made everyone's attention turn to her. Dawn had put her cap back to normal. "Don't you remember how heartbroken was he when he gave his Cacnea to that Gym Leader? He cried his soul out, that day."

"… Yes… I noticed that…" stated Dawn, looking at her hands right after. "That gave me a lot to think…"

"Hmm… You know, I think this is the first time we manage to talk like this, without a fight involved… And I must say that it's making me think as well." Brock was rubbing his chin, and Jessie blinked at him. "I mean… You just stated that you love your Pokemon, and some times you even helped us… I mean, the question is…"

"Why are you two… No, three, with Team Rocket?" ssked Ash. Jessie's eyes widened at that. Now that she thought about it… It was the first time that someone ever asked her that question. She sighed and placed her right hand on top of her head, rubbing it.

"Well…"

"De answer is three long stories, twerps." At the sound of yet another familiar voice, everyone turned in the direction of the door. Meowth was standing there, with a backpack over one shoulder. "Me an' Jessie can tell you ours, if you want, but I don't think we have de right to talk about James' reasons." He continued, walking to the table.

"Meowth. How long have you been standing there?" asked Jessie, while the talking Pokemon sat beside Brock.

"Ever since we discovered dat James has a fangirl." Dawn covered her face with the hat again. "Quite a deep talk…"

"Piiika…"

"Oh, Pikachu is waking up… … Pikachu is waking up?!"

"Pika?! PI! PIKA!"

"N-NONONONO! PIKACHU! DON'T…!"

"CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

And with a fiery thunderbolt, that snackbar gained three more workers for an undetermined period of time. Damages to pay, you know…

--

"Hmmm…" James slowly opened his eyes… And the first thing he saw in front of his face was Chimecho, who promptly wrapped himself around his owner's head. "Chimecho… I did the strangest dream. I dreamed I had fought against a cute Gym Leader in an official match, and I won."

"It was a dream? Then, what am I going to do with this badge?"

"!!" James was so surprised that he literally pulled off Chimecho from around his forehead. He sat up in whatever he was laying into and stared right in front of him. A smiling Erika was holding out a Rainbow badge with her right hand, sitting in a chair in front of the bed. James couldn't help but stare. "…"

"Come on, take it. It's yours to keep." James swallowed. He slowly raised his left hand, and his whole left arm was trembling. He slowly grasped the badge, brushing his own fingertips against Erika's one… Once he had a firm grip on it, Erika let go of the badge. James slowly brought the badge closer to his face. It was real. It was a real badge… He felt his eyes watering. "More crying? Aren't you a little whiny…"

"I'm… I'm just happy, I mean… It's been so long since I won a Pokemon battle… And against a Gym Leader as strong as you… WAAAAAAAAAH! I LOVE YOU, CHIMECHO!"

"CHIME!" This time, it was Chimecho's turn to be strangled by James' hug. The little Pokemon almost turned the same colour as James' hair, under the gaze of a chuckling Erika.

"I'll let slip all those compliments." Then, Erika held out her hand for James to shake. "Well… Congratulations." James stared at it, then grinned, let go of Chimecho and shook it with gusto.

"Thanks! Yahoo! I got a Rainbow Badge! And now, to Saffron!"

"Saffron?" Erika blinked… Then she remembered that in Saffron there was another Pokemon Gym… With another Gym Leader… Another girl. Sabrina. "You want to challenge Saffron City's Gym?"

"Exactly! That's why I came here in the first place!" Erika suddenly let go of James' hand, and slowly acquired an angry stare.

"Wait. Let me get this straight…" James suddenly jumped. Her stare and her tone of voice… She looked like Jessie or his mother when they were seriously pissed off. "You mean that the only reason you came to battle me was to get a badge so that you could fight with Sabrina?"

"…" James swallowed. _Alright, James. Remember your father's lessons. When things like these happen, you have to follow just two rules. Deny whatever could have made the lady angry and lick. Licklicklick._ "D-Don't be silly! I couldn't just go and challenge anyone! I-It had to be you!"

"… And why is that?" Erika pressed him for more information.

"Because… Because… Because of the twerp!" Suddenly blurted out the violet haired man. Erika blinked.

"The twerp?"

"Yes! Lash Ketchup, or whatever he's called! I mean, he's become something like my nemesis, over these years! But, among his travels, he didn't beat you! I just had to challenge you! I had to challenge someone so strong that the twerp couldn't defeat!"

"…" Erika blushed, and then looked at the ground. "Well… I guess… It's a good reason…" James sighed in relief, then he blushed when he saw Erika smile at him. "And… Thanks for yet another compliment." James turned his head away blushing as much as the girl. Quite a pretty smile. "Ah! That reminds me, what about… Celebrating your victory?"

"Uh? Celebrating?" James gave Erika a puzzled look.

"Well, I'm not talking about throwing a party or anything. There's a festival in Celadon, right now, that I think you would enjoy. And since it's 5 PM, you have time to prepare. Ah, and you have to wear a kimono!" Erika looked cheerful. James sweatdropped. She probably loved wearing those things.

"I… Didn't bring one?" She suddenly plopped one along with sandals on his head. "Ehm… You got a spare male one?"

"Yep. Now, go to the Pokemon center, take a shower or anything, put this thing on and be in front of the Gym at 8 PM." James took the garment off his head… And then blinked.

"What? I'm not in the Pokemon center?"

"No, silly. This is my room, and you're in my bed."

"…" James was up, grabbed his hat and trench-coat and walked out of the room and the Gym so fast that Erika noticed only when he was already halfway to the exit.

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

James enjoys a peaceful and enjoyable evening after very long, but after it, it's time to head back to Saffron. Sabrina awaits. What will happen? In the meanwhile, something begins to move in the dark side… Stay tuned!


	4. The Badges Crisis IV

Annnnd here's the fourth chapter! Many thanks to all my reviewers! So, enjoy this fourth chapter!

"_A real Pokemon trainer has to believe in himself! He never gives up! Because if you do… What will your Pokemon do?!"_

"_Miiiiiiiiiiiimeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"_

"_Beeeeell!!"_

"_B-Bellossom… Is out of order! Third point for James! The winner of this official Gym Challenge… Is trainer James!"_

"_No bringing excitement in my life ag… Ehm, no mechanical arms?"_

"_Twerps, I'm trying to work, here. Just give me your freaking orders, and later we'll talk, if you want. It's almost closing time…"_

"_Ah! That reminds me, what about… Celebrating your victory?"_

**Journey of a thousand James**

**Chapter4: Dense as a wall of bricks of guano**

"Hnnn… Not so tight, Carnivine…"

"Caaarn… Carn!"

"Huuuf… There, perfect." James moved a little the sash one last time and then looked at himself in the mirror. The kimono was finally perfectly clad to his body, in all his dark blue with red flowers patterns and red sash glory… Even if it took him half an hour and Carnivine's help to wear it. "Now… What time is it?" James turned to look at the clock in his room. 7:45 PM. "Gotta hurry."

--

"Ah, you're finally here."

"…" James was currently blushing. A lot. For a series of reasons. The first was obviously Erika. Now he understood why they called her the Nature Loving Princess. Nature Loving was obvious, but you could understand princess only after seeing her wearing a kimono without a wig. The kimono she was wearing was mostly azure with patterns of flower of a darker blue and green, tied together by a yellow sash. The grace that the girl emanated was something out of the world. James' first word would have been 'wow'… if he hadn't noticed something. He had believed that they would have gone out all together (he, Erika and the other girls from the Gym)… But in front of the Gym entrance there were just him and the Gym Leader. "… It's just the two of us?"

"The other girls are going to reach us later. Why? You don't want to be seen alone with me?" Erika smiled at the man in front of him, causing him to blush further and turn his head to the right side.

"I… Could ask you the same question…" Erika giggled a bit at his uneasiness, then approached him and grabbed his left arm, latching onto it with her right one.

"Nonsense. Now, first rule when you're alone with a girl. You offer her your arm while walking."

"Ehm… I know." _My father hired a teacher for these kinds of things as well._ "It just kind of… Slipped my mind."

"I guess this kimono must look really good on me, then." Erika giggled some more and then pulled on James' arm. "Come on, the festival awaits."

"Alright, alright…" _I have the sensation that I've been set up for something…_

--

"Wow… Wow!" James' reaction once the two had arrived in Celadon's main street was, in Erika's eyes, pretty exaggerated. The violet haired man had started running from side to side of the street, eyeing with awe the various stalls. "The takoyaki! And there's even the goldfish catching thing! Oh! Is that cotton candy?!"

"… Mmmmmph…" Erika had started to chuckle, then she couldn't restrain herself and started to laugh openly at James. He blushed and got a little frown on his face.

"H-Hey! Why are you laughing?!"

"Ahahah… Sorry… It's just… You look like a kid." Erika managed to stop herself from laughing, barely. "You know… Staring in awe, being loud about the stalls…" James pouted and turned his head to the side.

"Well, sorry if it's the first time I go to a festival." He stated rather bluntly. At this, Erika stopped immediately, staring at him like he had grown a second head.

"The… the first time? You mean, when you were a kid…" James shook his head. "Your parents never…" James shook his head. "Not even…" James shook his head and then sighed.

"My father and mother were kind of opposed to me going to these kind of festivals and… Wait, I remember my father's words…" James coughed and tried to imitate his father the best he could. "'We shall not allow our son and heir to mingle his self with normal people for such trivial occasions'."

"…" Erika blinked twice at him. "Not to be rude, but… Your father doesn't sound like a good one."

"He isn't." James sighed. "I was living like a recluse, before I ran away from home…" James then blinked, realizing what he was saying. "Ehm, nevermind. I'm probably annoying you…"

"…" Erika just smiled and dragged him towards a stall. "Well, since it's your first time to a festival, I'll make sure to show you everything that there is to see! Come on!"

"H-Hey! Slow down!"

--

"You sure you don't want some?"

"Even if it would be good at least to stop you from eating all that food, no thanks." Erika was seriously freaked out. At first, James was being shy, not wanting to do anything, just like a kid. But the more he had fun, the more he got dragged into everything. Especially with food. He was currently carrying a bag of Takoyaki and cotton candy… For three. "Seriously… I've never seen someone as fond of food as you are… Under 100 kg."

"Well, consider that there are times where I'm forced to not eat for days. When I can eat so much for free, it's always welcome." And saying this, he took another bite of cotton candy. Erika rolled her eyes. Then, she turned her head around, hearing a loud noise coming from the sky… Fireworks.

"Oh, the fireworks! They signal that it's 1 AM!" James almost chocked on his takoyaki. It had already been five hours? Well, they HAD did almost a complete tour of the ancient zone of Celadon, but… It was unexpected. Suddenly, he almost lost hold of his bag when Erika started dragging him away yet again. "Come on! I know a spot with a beautiful sight!"

--

"… The sight is indeed beautiful…"

"Isn't it?"

"But from the 'nature loving princess'…" James took in the sights… and then sweatdropped. "I would have expected the top of a hill, not the terrace of a skyscraper!" Erika chuckled and then shoved him playfully.

"Oh, just shut up and enjoy the fireworks!" Right after saying that, the second series of fireworks began to be shot into the sky. James still rolled his eyes at Erika, but decided to focus on the fireworks. Really a beautiful scenery, but… James couldn't help but think that they looked like him and the others whenever they were blasted away, and from there he thought that he should probably find a way to contact them and tell them about what had happened to him, and that he would probably come back a little later than what he thought. He was so focused that he didn't notice Erika slipping her arms around his waist from behind till she rested her head on his shoulder. He blushed. "What are you thinking about?"

"Hmmm… About my friends. They're waiting for me in Sinnoh…" James scratched the tip of his nose. Erika closed and opened her eyes, slowly.

"To start doing Rocket things again, right?" Her voice was a little low, like she was sad at that thought.

"Yeah…"

"… Have you tried doing other things?" Erika seemed to tighten her hold on his waist, making James a bit more uncomfortable.

"Yes… After running away from home, I did a lot of thing till I got of age to try to enroll in Pokemon Tech…" He replied, scratching the top of his head. "But I flopped. That was the first time I met Jessie. Then, always together, we joined a bike gang. It was nice to be in a group, for once… But it didn't work, in the long shot. We went our own ways. Then, 6 years ago, we both enrolled in Team Rocket, and I got placed in the team with her and Meowth."

"…" Erika brushed her head against his back, moving it from his shoulder. "… You've had a thought life…"

"Yeah… But at least, I always have had good Pokemon." James smiled, thinking about all the Pokemon he has had in his life. "I have had at least this luck."

"… Humans are not good enough for you?" Erika chuckled, and James smiled more.

"I wonder about that…"

"…" Erika leaned on James' shoulder again… And kissed him on his left cheek, letting go of him right after that. James stood there dazed for a couple of seconds… Then turned blood crimson and turned around in a flash. Erika was walking towards the exit of the terrace. "It's been a fun evening. Again, congratulations on obtaining your first badge. And, James…" Erika suddenly stopped and turned towards James, smiling. "I honestly think… That you have potential for more than just stealing Pokemon. And after all, you currently suck at that." Said that, she waved at him with her right hand and walked away, descending the stairs, leaving a dumbfounded James alone on the terrace.

"…" James brought his left hand to the cheek where Erika had just kissed him, and then thought about her words. _'The potential for more than just stealing Pokemon…'_ "What was all that about?"

--

_Location: __Johto's Detention Center of Maximum Security_

"Argh… I hate this outfit… If at least they were vertical lines, instead of these damn black and white stripes. Vertical lines make you look slimmer…"

"Annie, I swear I'll strangle you if you say it one more time! You've been saying that damn sentence from the first day we've been trapped in here! AND THAT WAS ALMOST ONE YEAR AGO!"

The cell that contained Annie and Oakley would be every man's dream, if it had a camera or something from where you could observe what happened inside. The two sisters had so many catfights that the number of prisoner outfits they ripped in the process was industrial. And the reason for their fights was always the same, it always started from the identical same reason. Putting the blame on each other for being in prison.

"Well, if my deeeeeeeeeeeeeeear sister hadn't been so obsessed with that machine and just did her work, we wouldn't have failed and ended up in here in the first place." Annie retorted, earning a glare from her sister.

"And if my deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeear sister would have helped me and paid a little more attention to the mission instead of that freaking jewel and her hairdo and clothes, maybe those brats wouldn't have stopped us!" Oakley snarled at her older sister so much that she almost looked like their Boss's Persian on a bad day.

"Power-maniac!"

"Jewel-freak!"

"AAAAAAH! NOW IT'S ON!"

"BRING IT ON, YOU TECHNO-HUS…" Their catfight got interrupted before it even started because someone caught their attention a lot more than their usual bickering. An explosion. An enormous explosion, since the walls and even the pavement and the ceiling trembled. And it was almost impossible, if one thought about what that detention center was made of. Suddenly, more explosions, but, strangely, the alarms still didn't go on. But what really freaked the two sisters out was that along with the explosions there had been screams, and while the explosions stayed afar, the screams were getting closer. One almost in front of their cell made them shriek in fear and hug each other, pressed against the farthest wall from the door. Suddenly, the heard faint footsteps. Faint because of the door's thickness. There was someone right in front of their door, in that moment.

"Agents Annie and Oakley?" Said the voice. It came a little distorted and metallic because of the door, but it was clearly a male voice.

"W-Who wants to know?" Said weakly Annie.

"A friend. Giovanni sent me." Said the male voice. This made the two girls raise their eyebrows.

"Eh?"

"The boss?"

"Stay away from the door." After this, the two girls heard another set of footsteps coming closer to the door. They were at the same time lighter but more penetrating. Like needles falling to the ground. Suddenly, they heard sounds like a sword cutting trough something, and some flashes of light. In two seconds, the door was on the floor in pieces. And behind it stood a Scizor, and behind the Pokemon, a man dressed as a team rocket grunt, the red 'R' on his chest evident, but they couldn't spot the hat. He made the Scizor step back and walked in. The two sisters still couldn't make much of his aspect, since his whole head was covered in a mask, with some kind of device around its mouth. But strangely, his voice still came clear as day. The mask had some kind of red lens covering his eyes. "I'm agent Slasher. We got to go."

"…" The two sisters just nodded and got back on their feet, stepping out of the cell after the man and his Scizor… And right after exiting the cell, Annie screamed. Because of what she had just seen on the floor. A corpse. The corpse of the fat security guard assigned to their cell who always tried to cop a feel from Oakley every time he got into their cell. He was on the floor… Along with almost all his blood, full of cuts everywhere on his body. And that's when the two girls realized that… Not all the red on the Scizor was because of his natural colour. "You… I mean, your Pokemon… Killed him?"

"Indeed. Let's go." Slasher began to walk away, followed by his Pokemon. The two girls hurried after him.

"Don't tell me that all the screams we heard…" Annie was a little shaken. Oakley regained her calm a bit earlier.

"Agent Slasher… I've never heard of you, before." She stated. The mysterious man had a ready answer, though.

"Because the section I'm part of has been created in the last six months." He simply said. Annie though, had other things on her mind.

"B-but what's with your Pokemon? I mean… P-Pokemon don't kill!" Hearing this, the man slowed down his steps a little, turning his head towards the two girls.

"They don't?" He asked in a mocking tone. And even if she couldn't see his face, Annie was sure the man had a smirk on his face. And she almost jumped when they heard him emit something between a laugh and a cackle. Suddenly, he halted in his steps. They were standing in front of another cell door. Slasher knocked on the door. "Lord Vicious the Mask?"

"Eh?!" Annie jumped. Oakley just widened her eyes.

"Vicious… He was in here too?" Silence reigned in the corridor for a while, before a voice came from the inside of the cell.

"Took you long enough." Followed by a cackle. Slasher brought his right hand to his temple, apparently. He seemed to be pressing some kind of button with his index finger.

"Boomer, all targets acquired. We're out of here in 10 minutes."

_Already? Too bad… I was enjoying making walls and people go Boom._

--

"Ahhhh! Master James!"

"Hey, calm down, Jill!" James was surprised that the first thing that Jill had done after meeting him again was hugging him, in tears, when three days before was too shy to even raise his head to him. Growlie sweatdropped for him. "What happened?!"

"Those mean men of the demolition company… They made me and Machamp do a lot of work… And I got hurt!" She said, between sniffles. James got a little worried.

"Hurt?! Where?!"

"Here!" Jill held out her right hand to James… Who raised an eyebrow. There was no injury in sight. He slowly approached the hand with his face… And sweatdropped when he spotted a little, almost invisible scratch in the middle of her palm.

"… I think you'll survive."

"R-Really?" Jill sniffled a little more, and James just groaned in exasperation.

"Yes, really. So, for now, you can let go of me."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…" Jill snuggled closer. "Five more minutes?"

"…" James sweatdropped and blushed at the same time. "We're on a bus, you know…" Indeed they were. On the bus heading back to Saffron city.

"Pweaaaase…" Jill blushed like James, but still didn't let go. James groaned.

"Alright, alright… Maybe you can help me to make a strategy. After all, we'll have to battle Sabrina… … OH, SHIT! I FORGOT TO ASK ERIKA ABOUT HOW TO TRAIN CARNIVINE!" James gripped his hair in frustration and then sighed deeply. "Darn… Alright, calm down, James. Just focus." James crossed his arms over his chest.

_Lesse… Sabrina uses __Psychic Pokemon. Currently, I have with me, Growlie…_ James threw a glance in the direction of his pet/Pokemon, who was napping on another seat of the bus. _Then Mr Mime, Chimecho and Carnivine. Two Psychic type, one grass type and one fire type… If the match is gonna be three on three again… Carnivine would be at a disadvantage against Psychic types, so, I will have to leave him out… No, wait. Maybe not. Let me check…_ James took out his Pokedex. He checked the section about Pokemon attacks, and looked for 'Bite'. _As I remembered… Bite is a Dark-type attack, so, it should be pretty good against Psychic types… And with Carnivine and Growlie attack strength… So, if I manage to get them near Sabrina's Pokemon, they can dish out a good deal of damage. Now, for the third Pokemon… Hmmm…_ James began to think about the images of Chimecho and Mr Mime, and began to compare them. _Both Mr Mime and Chimecho are Psychic types… But, while Mr Mime knows how to use those kind of attacks and a couple of other ones, I suppose, Chimecho still isn't able to use efficiently attacks like Confusion. And going against Sabrina's own Psychic Pokemon with an inexperienced one would be suicide._ James' mind wandered back to the battle against Erika. Chimecho took too long to cast Confusion and that gave time to Erika's Pokemon to counterattack. _So, I will have to fight using Carnivine, Mr Mime and Growlie, in order… Wow. It feels kinda nice to have a plan ahead of time that isn't 'dig a hole' or something like that._ James turned his gaze to his Fire-type, smiling at him. "Hey, Growlie. Tomorrow you're going to be my trump card."

"Growl?" Growlie gave him a look, opening one of his eyes, then yawned and went back to sleep, the rocking of the bus a nice accomplice.

"Eheheheh… Uh?" James heard some really light snoring… And then sweatdropped. Jill had fallen asleep as well… On him. "Why do I get a feeling that the first thing she will do, once she wakes up, will be screaming and apologize in embarrassment?"

--

"Hmmm…" In the meanwhile, inside Saffron city's Gym, a certain man, father to a certain Gym Leader, was observing what was going inside a certain violet haired man's mind. Ever since they had met the first time, he had built a telepathic link with him, and had kept it opened all the time. He had witnessed the events in Celadon and was now witnessing his line of thoughts come real, with the girl screaming in embarrassment after waking up. "I think I've seen enough." He cut the telepathic link, breaking the connection between him and James, and got up from his seat, and walked out of his room.

The Gym had not changed much, not even after Sabrina's 'healing'. It still was a place where people with special powers came to train themselves and their Pokemon. And Sabrina was still the strongest trainer and psychic, in that place. The man walked to the girl's room and knocked on her door.

"Sabrina? Can I come in?" He said. He heard a weak 'Yes' coming from behind the door. He opened the door. There she was. Like always, sitting on the floor, playing with her numerous dolls, moving them with her psychic powers. Most people would find this strange, with a 22 years old girl… But that's how Sabrina was. Since her broken parts had been merged together again, the most notable change in her was that the line of her eyes had softened, and didn't give that 'evil' feeling anymore. Apart that, not much had changed about her. Not even her clothes. "…" Her father observed her. Then, decided to talk. "Sabrina, I'm worried about you."

"… Why is that?" She asked, even if she already knew the answer, without even having to read her mind.

"… Because of that oath…"

"…" Sabrina closed her eyes and reopened them slowly. "It's been a long time since you brought this subject up, father. What has happened?"

"…" The man scratched the back of his head. It really made no sense. Realistically speaking, the boy had no chances against Sabrina, but… There was this feeling that was nagging at him… "I met a trainer."

"…" Sabrina turned towards her father. "Is he strong?"

"… I don't know how to say this… He has no chances to defeat you, but I fear that you may end up defeated… He's not even really a trainer…"

"…" Sabrina got up on her feet and stared at her father, with an interrogative stare. "Father, what you're saying doesn't make much sense… And on top of that, you already know how you feel about my oath."

"B-But Sabrina… Something like this… Can't be decided over a single Pokemon battle!"

"It can… And it will." Sabrina turned around and began to walk. "I thank you for your warning father, but… I will not change my mind. If this trainer you met will be the one who will defeat me and mark my destiny… So be it." And said this, she disappeared. Teleport. Her father sighed, massaging his face with one hand. Stubborn girl. Just like her mother…

--

"Welcome to Saffron's Pokemon Center. How can I help you?"

"Ehm…" James found this really awkward. But… The opportunity was too good to not pass. It had all started with a conversation he had had with Jill…

_Location: Bus on the way to Saffron from Celadon_

"_I'm sorry for falling asleep on top of you, Master James!"  
_

"_I understood! No need to tell it again!" Growlie groaned and covered his ears. The girl was so loud when she apologized. James thought that a change of subject was due… He suddenly opened his trench-coat. "Hey, look! The Rainbow Badge! Isn't it pretty?!"_

"_Oh?" Jill observed the small badge now stuck on the inner part of James' trench-coat. "Wow… It sure is. But… Why don't you keep it in your badge container?"_

"_Eh?" James blinked. "A what…"_

"_A Badge… Oh, right! I forgot that master James didn't normally start as a normal Pokemon trainer! How silly of me!" Jill punched her own head, playfully… Then, she widened her eyes and put a hand in front of her mouth, gasping. "But master James… That means you don't even have a Pokemon account! That's awful!"_

"_Pokemon… Account?" James was getting more and more confused by the minute. Jill suddenly picked out James' Pokedex out of his pocket._

"_Basically, master James, when you decide to become an official Pokemon trainer or Coordinator, they give you a starting set that is made of a starter Pokemon, a Pokedex of the latest generation, a badge container and five vacant Pokeballs. On top of that, you open up a personal Pokemon account in the lab where you've got your starter Pokemon." She opened the Pokedex and showed him how to display his caught Pokemon and the one he had just seen. But it didn't work. "It doesn't work because you don't have a Pokemon account. A Pokemon account keeps record, trough your Pokedex, of all the Pokemon you've caught and seen, and it makes so that when you have already a full team of six Pokemon, the one you caught get sent to the Pokelab. It keeps track of the badges and contests you win as well."_

"_Wow… It comes in handy…" James rubbed his chin in thought. Convenient… Then, something came to his mind. "One moment… Why does it keep track of the Pokemon you see and caught and of the Gym matches and Pokemon Contests you win?"_

"_Because all the official trainers and coordinators are registered in the official League Ranking. Each League has its ranking, but, there's an international ranking too…" Explained Jill. The girl looked kind of normal, that way. "The League Ranking brings many benefits to trainers and coordinators. While Pokemon Centers are free for everyone who owns a Pokemon, just those who are in the League Ranking get benefits the higher their rank is. And their rank is calculated by the factors I've nominated before: number of Pokemon seen and caught, and Gym Matches and Pokemon Contests won. The ranks go in a numerical order. There are #10 ranks in the Regional rankings, #20 in the International Ranking._

"… _I didn't know about all that stuff." James scratched the top of his head trough the hat. "And… What kind of benefits?"_

"_Well, for example, you get access to various information. Like, rare Pokemon's locations and about other trainers… And of course, an allowance that is received every three months, depending on your rank in the region you find yourself in." She said the last sentence with a smile. James' ears trembled, at that. Like an Aipom who has caught an interesting noise._

"… _You said… Allowance?"_

"_Yes. Like… Rank 5 Kanto Trainers get 10,000,000 Yen…"_

"…"

_End flashback_

"I… I want to open a Pokemon account." After James had practically begged Jill to tell him how to open a Pokemon account even if it wasn't needed, the girl had replied that anyone could open a Pokemon account in a Pokemon Center.

"Ah. Alright. Then, please…" Nurse Joy got from under her desk a paper and handed it to James. The man observed it. It was a form. "You need to fill in this form."

"Alright…" James was about to… He stopped right there when he read name and surname. _What if my parents manage to get access to the rankings… Uh?_ Then, he read 'Nickname'. "What's… What's a nickname?"

"An option. If you choose to get a nickname, in the rankings it will appear instead of your name and surname, making these latter ones private along with all the other information about yourself, that can be accessed just by high ranking trainers or coordinators." James sighed in relief. Good to know. His parents were rich, but they weren't official trainers, and they hadn't one under their service. He started writing.

_Ok… Name: James. Surname: My family name…__ Nickname: Hmmm… _Now, he needed a nickname. It need to be cool, charming… Fitting of his person… But what if it was too fitting? He massaged his temples. It was harder than it looked, choosing a nickname… _Hmmmm… It really is hard… Maybe something that other people called me in the past? Hmmm… Uh?_ Then, something remembered something, or better, someone. The very reason he had began to challenge Gyms in the first place. That girl called Duplica. And he remembered a nice sounding phrase she had told while imitating his supposed self… He smiled. He liked it. _Nickname: Keen Eye. Age…_ James took five minutes to fill in the rest of the form, checking it out twice, from the name to he account's password… Then he handed it back to Nurse Joy, to check.

"Very good. Now, please, come this way." Nurse Joy walked out from behind her desk and towards a room of the Pokemon Center. James turned to Growlie and Jill, telling them to stay there while he went with Nurse Joy. He followed her in a room with strange machinery, with a Hypno linked to it with a strange helmet. "Now, we need to check about the Pokemon you've caught and seen, and as well if you really got that badge in an official Gym fight. Hypno will see to it."

"Eh?" James felt a little nervous. That Hypno was going to literally see his memories and such? He didn't like very much that… Then, he heard Nurse Joy giggling.

"Don't worry. Hypno is very selective. He will not touch other kind of memories apart the ones about the things I mentioned before. And even if he did, it's not like he's going to tell anyone." James scratched the tip of his nose. It made sense… Nurse Joy took the form he had compiled and put it in the machine, and she then uncovered what looked like slots. There were a number of small ones of various shapes, while one was much larger than the first ones, and rectangular. She extended her hand towards him. "You already have a Pokedex, you said. Want me to use that for the programming? And I'll need your badge too."

"I suppose." James took his Pokedex and Rainbow badge and handed them to Nurse Joy. The girl put the badge in one of the smaller slots and the Pokedex in the rectangular one. Then, he noticed that Hypno had started waving around that strange pendulum, his stare piercing right trough James' own eyes. He felt a shiver going trough his spine, and a warm feeling enveloping his head… In a couple of minutes, the feelings disappeared, and the helmet started producing strange noises, along with the machines. The noises stopped in another couple of minutes. Nurse Joy handed James back his Pokedex and badges, while the machine printed another piece of paper. "All done?"

"Yes." Nurse Joy began to read from the piece of paper. "You're now an official trainer. The Pokelab where your Pokemon will be sent is Professor Oak's lab in Pallet town."

"EH?!" James jumped out of his seat. Of all the labs… Nurse Joy just kept on reading, smiling.

"And your rank… …" Joy suddenly stopped, gasping a little. "Oh, my."

"S-Something happened?"

"No… I was just surprised." The smile was back on Nurse Joy's face. "It's just unusual for one that has just started his account to immediately get such an high rank. You're currently a rank #6 Trainer of the Kanto league."

"…" _Rank… #6?!_

--

"…" James watched the envelope in his hands, sitting on a bench in the middle of the street, Jill on his left, Growlie on his right. And he just couldn't bring himself to open it, fearing what he could find into it.

"Master James… Are you going to open it or not?"

"…" Growlie was staring at his owner as well. James had made some calculations. If he was right, on the card he would find inside the enveloped… He opened it. "…" He picked out the red card. And a letter. It said: 'Starting money of this card: 5,200,000 Yen'. "… I've never had this much money since I ran away from home…" Then, his eyes shined. "ALRIGHT! THIS EVENING, WE'RE GONNA EAT AT A RESTAURANT! EVERYTHING ON ME! ARE YOU WITH ME?!"

"GROOOOOWL!" Growlie yapped in excitement. Jill just raised her hand slowly and said…

"Yes?"

"Good! Let's go!" _I don't know how the hell I can be a Rank #6 already, but, who cares! I'M GONNA EAT!_

--

_Location: Indigo Plateau_

"Hmmm… E-Mail?"

Once you become an Elite four, life becomes pretty boring for some of these. There are few trainers that are able to battle you, and you aren't allowed to battle just anyone, unconsciously. So much that Lorelei was seriously considering of dropping out of the position. Previously, Agatha was the only one who she would talk to… But health conditions had forced her friend to retire, leaving the poor Lorelei in her boredom once again. To the point that she had started doing things that master hackers would be proud of. One of her latest creations was a program that e-mailed her whenever something out of normal happened in the Rankings.

"Hmm… A newbie in the rankings?" The girl adjusted her glasses on her nose with her middle finger, and began to scroll down the e-mail. "… He joined the rankings just today… And he immediately jumped to a level 6 in the Kanto ranking… And 10 in the international ranking?" Lorelei rubbed her chin. Something to pull her out of her boredom, finally. How could this newbie have already such an high rank? And with just one badge and… 7 Pokemon captured in his whole life? "… Maybe an error? … Or maybe…" Lorelei scrolled down the page till she could bring the mouse icon over the link 'Seen Pokemon'. She opened the page and began to read… "…" She suddenly narrowed her eyes. "… Ah…" She blinked. "… What?" She gasped slightly… "WHAT?!" She got on her feet, slamming her hands down on the desk in front of her.

--

"Hmmm… It's a good blend of tea."

"Glad you like it, Koga." The ninja just turned towards the bulky shirtless man with an annoyed look on his face.

"Didn't they teach you to address your elders properly, Bruno?"

"Ah! Right! Eheheheh…"

"No reasons to act like the head of a ninja dojo, here, Master Koga." Lance took his own cup of tea and brought it to his lips. A personal blend of Bruno. He just hoped it didn't contain rocks. It would be perfect to ruin the mood of the peaceful discussion. "So, have you thought about our proposal?"

"Yes, I did. And I must say that I'm quite tempted by it." The ninja sipped down the rest of his cup and set it down on the table the three were sitting around. "My daughter is almost ready to take over the Gym. Once she's ready, she will undergo the exam for becoming Gym Leader. Once she succeeds, I will join the four."

"So, I guess we will have to wait just another month or so?" Said Lance, smiling strangely. Koga laughed lightly, raising the angles of his mouth a bit.

"Yes, that's the time I estimated."

"GUUUUUYS!"

"What?" All the occupants of the room turned around to see Lorelei rush into the room, panting and screaming, like she had run all the way there. And that was very un-Lorelei like. "What happened, Lorelei? My Charizard didn't go after you again, right?"

"It's not that, Lance! I've just received… I mean, look!" Lorelei handed them a paper. It was a print of a webpage displaying the profile of a trainer in the international ranking. Nickname, Keen Eye. Joined the rankings that same day, rated #6 in the Kanto ranking, rated #10 in the International ranking.

"Hmmm… He has joined just today and he has this high rank?" Lance rubbed his chin, imitated smoothly by Koga and not so smoothly by Bruno. "Well, it's unusual, but not impossible."

"That's not the point! The point is the why! Look at the other page! The 'Seen Pokemon' page!" Lorelei was like on fire, gearing in such an unusual way, for her. Lance turned the page and began to read.

"…" Lance blinked. Once. Then twice. He then got on his feet, his mouth slightly open. "This is…"

"SEE?! SEE?!"

"Ehm… Guys, you're scaring me…"

"Bruno is right." Koga got back in a standing position as well. "Would you like telling us what's going on?"

"This trainer has reached this rank thanks to the enormous quantity of Pokemon he has seen… Some rare… Or legendaries." Koga raised an eyebrow. Bruno just scratched his head. Lance sighed. "I'll read some of the names… Celebi. Kyogre. Raiquaza. Deoxys. Groudon. Suicune. Entei…"

"STOP!" At this sudden outburst by Koga, everyone jumped. "… You're telling me… That his newbie trainer has seen… These Pokemon? I believed myself that Celebi was a legend."

"It looks like this…"

"Well, if he has travelled this much and has managed to see this many legendary Pokemon…" Bruno kept on scratching his head, while reading another printed page. "I mean, he's probably a fine trainer. But why does he have so little captured Pokemon? And he did his first official Gym battle just the other day…"

"…" Lance rubbed his chin some more. This man… Whoever he was, he was someone that he'd like to keep an eye on. "Hmmm… Lorelei…"

"Already on it!" Lance rolled his eyes. He should have seen that coming.

--

"Aaaand here we are."

Yes. There they were. In front of the Gym of Saffron city, once again. This time, though… He would enter. Enter, challenge Sabrina… Maybe win? He didn't know. But he sure as hell was going to try.

"Are you sure about this, master James? You look pretty nervous." Jill was holding one hand in front of her mouth. James was clenching his fists so much that it almost hurt.

"I am… But, you know that we can't back down, right?" The violet haired man swallowed. And then, he walked to the door. It opened in front of him… And he found Sabrina's father standing in front of him. "AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"I was waiting for you. Shall we?"

_To be continued…_

_In the next chapter…_

Here we are. The match for a badge, a doll, and subsequently for a Magnet Train pass! Who will win?! The newbie James or Gym Leader and psychic extraordinaire Sabrina?! Stay tuned!


	5. The Badges Crisis V, End of the Arc

WOW! It's been forever, hn? I'm sorry, but, what can I say… Naruto fanfiction and university just drained my time. Other than that, I've been working on a Sexyshipping project, a one-shot that I hope to post soon… Well, no use to dwell on it anymore. Journey of a thousand James is back at full power. Enjoy!

**Journey of a thousand James**

**Chapter5: Let me show you what I'm made of! … Shit**

After recovering from the near heart attack he had because of Sabrina's father, James had started to follow him, followed himself by Jill and Growlie. He had never been before in that Gym, but it sure gave away a strange aura. Like of superiority, of knowledge… Even the walls gave away that aura. He scratched his head… And then, they stopped in front of a door.

"We're here." Sabrina's father turned towards James, a serious look in his eyes. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"…" James swallowed and then nodded with his head. Sabrina's father sighed, and then moved his right hand in front of himself, making the door open. And there she was. Sabrina. Sitting in some kind of throne, on the other side of the in-door arena. James swallowed some more. "You're Sabrina, right?"

"That is correct. And your name is?"

"I'm James. I'm here to challenge you…"

"For a badge. And a doll." James blinked… Then punched his left hand. Psychic powers in the family. Right. All this while Sabrina observed him. Inside and outside. Outside, with eyes. Inside, with her 'third eye'. And all this went unnoticed by James. After a few seconds of 'examination', Sabrina talked again. "Shall we begin?"

"Y-Yes. The rules?" The answer was given by Sabrina's father, who walked to one side of the arena and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"The battle is going to be a Three-on-Three battle. But there will be just three match ups. Each Pokémon can be used in just one match. Who gets two victories out of the three wins."

"Mhhh…" James rubbed his chin in thought. _Different from the battle with Erika. While it's convenient since I could end the battle early and not be forced to face her strongest Pokémon, the same goes for her._ He dropped his arms. "Alright." James picked out a Pokéball and threw it high in the air, letting Chimecho free.

"Chiiiime!"

"Is that going to be your first Pokémon?"

"No." James made sign to Chimecho to approach him, and the Pokémon happily complied. James smiled at him. "Listen, Chimecho. Today, I want you to just observe the fight. Alright?"

"Chime?" The Pokémon gave his owner a puzzled look.

"Because Sabrina's Pokémon are gonna use a lot of those attacks that you could but still can't use. I want you to watch and learn whatever you can, alright?"

"… Chime!" After a few seconds of perplexity, the Pokémon smiled, nodded with his little head and flew to Sabrina's father's side, while James picked out another Pokéball. The boy then turned to Jill.

"You're going to watch too, Jill?" The girl looked a bit uneasy but nodded nonetheless and then headed for the bench on one side of the room, near Chimecho and Sabrina's father.

"Let's start, shall we?" James threw the Pokéball towards the arena. "Carnivine! I choose you!" The Pokémon appeared in the middle of the arena, jaws open in a battle cry… No, sorry. Ready to bite James again. "CAAAARNIVIIIIIIIIIINE!"

"Caarn!"

"M-Master James… Does he always do that?" asked Jill, a bit concerned. James pulled off the grass type from his head and inhaled a great deal of air before answering.

"More or less. Carnivine! We have a fight! And this time, you're not going to lose, are you?!"

"Carn?" Carnivine blinked. Or better, it would have if it was a normal human. He just stared at his owner. And then he remembered of the defeat of the last time… "CAAAAAAAAAAAARN!" He became pumped and hovered towards the center of the arena.

"Nothing like a reminder of a defeat to get someone gearing. Be it a human or a Pokémon."

"Very well. Haunter. I choose you." Sabrina didn't even throw a Pokéball. There was just silence for a few seconds. And no Pokémon was coming out yet. "Haunter. Stop standing behind the challenger."

"Eh?" James turned around. And then he screamed in fear like a little girl. A Haunter really was standing behind him, making a scary face. The Pokémon then laughed and flew high in the air. James fell on his butt and stared at the flying figure of the Pokémon, that positioned himself in front of Carnivine. "A Haunter? Isn't it… A ghost Pokémon?"

"I've decided to keep Haunter because it was thanks to him that I became whole again." James blinked at that. The girl was being enigmatic. "So, I thought it would be a shame if I didn't train him for fighting as well. Be warned. He's very powerful."

"…" James slowly got back on his feet, observing the Ghost type in the middle of the arena… And he just couldn't scratch the feeling that he had seen him somewhere before.

"So, the first match will be Haunter for Sabrina against Carnivine for James." Sabrina's father raised his right arm high in the air and then lowered it down in one swift move. "Begin!"

James suddenly lowered himself in a guard position, even if it was Carnivine who was going to do the fighting. Sabrina was still sitting in her chair, and their Pokémon were staring each other down. _A Haunter… I didn't expect a ghost type. Ghost types are immune to attacks that use brute strength only. But Carnivine's Bite attack is still gonna pack quite a punch, and his grass moves should be effective too._ "Alright, Carnivine! Let's start with a Bullet Seed!"

James' Pokémon let out his attack. Haunter stayed immobile and just let the attack pass trough him, the seeds bouncing onto the ceiling. James rubbed his chin. _It seems that grass moves with a strong physical part are useless as well. Gotta keep that in mind._ "Carnivine! Now try with a Vine whip!"

"Carn!" This time, instead of letting the attack pass trough him, Haunter dodged the attack to the right. James took note of this. Carnivine's whips were useful, then.

"Haunter. Shadow Punch."

"!" Carnivine dodged the attack barely, and James could see the bruise the punch had left on the grass type's right cheek. _Is he a Pokémon or a boxer?! That punch was fast!_ "C-Carnivine! Don't let up! Vine Whip!"

"Carn!" The grass-type's whips flew again towards their target… "Caaaarn!" Only for the Pokémon to stop abruptly when the punch that had gone flying on his right side did a come back and punched him in the back of his head, under the surprised stare of James and with the snickering of Haunter in the background.

"W-What… But we dodged it!" James couldn't put his finger on what had just transpired.

"There are attacks that cannot be dodged." Those simple words from Sabrina broke James out of his reverie. For real? There were attacks that couldn't be dodged? The gym leader didn't wait much before going back to attacking. "Haunter, again."

"Carnivine! Watch out!" The ghost type sent his floating hand flying yet again. Carnivine jumped out of the way, but the appendage just deviated from its original course to follow its target, hitting him yet again. "Darn! It's like an homing missile!"

"Fitting. Haunter, again."

"Haunterrr!" James was already tired of the girl robotic-like voice and that attack that couldn't be dodged… But he had an idea.

"Carnivine! Use your Vine Whip to parry!" The grass type listened to the order and shot out his appendages against the punch, making the two attacks meet with a loud clash, like a slap. James snapped his fingers and smiled. "Just like that!"_If you can't dodge it, parry it!_

"Haunter. Double time." But it seemed that the choice didn't faze Sabrina at all. With speed and calm, the gym leader gave her Pokémon yet another order. Double time… James understood when Haunter launched forward yet again his right hand along with the left one.

"Carnivine! Counterattack with Vine Whip!" _For now I just have to keep on stalemating!_ The grass type shot forward his two whips yet again, and it looked like they weren't fully retracting anytime soon, at least judging from how Haunter waved around his fists.

First he tried a full frontal assault. Carnivine swatted away both fists with a single vine whip and sent the other one towards the ghost type who dodged to the left. Then he directed his fists to attack Carnivine from both sides. Carnivine rotated on himself and parried them again with a circular motion.

James was too focused on the fight, otherwise he would have noticed that Sabrina had narrowed her eyes a little. Her dad blinked at that. It meant that something was disturbing her. It was probably the fact that Haunter had managed to land just one hit with a technique that was supposed to always land. "Haunter. Full speed."

"Haaaaaan…" Haunter had brought his hands back to himself, and he seemed to be preparing something, since his gaze seemed like the one of a person who was focusing greatly.

James observed this and remembered what Sabrina just said. 'Full Speed'. _Just how fast is he going to be?_ "Carnivine! Pay attention and be ready to counterattack!"

"Carn!" Carnivine retracted his vines and was ready to counter at the first sign of hostility… Only to raise an eyebrow, as strange as that can be for a Pokémon. He had caught a glimpse of something right above Haunter but had disappeared almost instantly. But his hands were still there. So… Again. Another glimps, this time right under… No, two? What was happening? And then a wicked grin found its way on the ghost-type's face. His hands suddenly disappeared… And suddenly they were everywhere around Haunter.

"W-What the…?!" James' eyes went wide as he started to believe that Haunter was using Double Team. After images of the Pokémon's hands were everywhere because of the speed with which he was moving them. He swallowed. "So fast…"

"Haunter's true power lies in its speed." Sabrina had gotten up from her throne and had approached the ring under her father's stare.

_Sabrina has always focused the training of her __Pokémon on their special attack and speed, since they're usually among a psychic's Pokémon highest stats. But with this particular Haunter, she hit the jackpot on speed. Ghost types are fast too, but this fast…_ He said, nodding to himself. She trained the ghost-type hard to make him learn the Double Team… Or at least, a variation of it to combine with the Shadow Punch… To create a brand new move.

"Haunter." As she called his name, the Pokémon suddenly disappeared and re-appeared in front of his opponent, whose face showed as much surprise as James' one, and the ghost type still held that wicked grin. "Shadow Barrage."

"Haunteeeeeeer!" The ghost type immediately showed what the meaning of that attack's name was. Counting the numbers of shudders with which Carnivine's body vibrated, he was being punched at least three times each second he kept on being his opponent's punching ball. James was barely able to see the two hands closed into fists moving through the air in front of Carnivine while they kept on landing again and again on its body. Mostly the poor Pokémon's face.

"C-Carnivine! Try to react!" Too bad that the blows were coming way too fast for the grass type to do anything to retaliate, as he had been surprised from Haunter's first sudden movement.

"Finish him." Sabrina basically ordered, and Haunter immediately obeyed by sending an uppercut to Carnivine's big jaw with both hands. The enormous grass type got lifted from the ground and landed a couple of meters behind.

"C-Carnivine! Are you alright?! Please, get up!" James shouted, suddenly realizing just how powerful Sabrina and her Pokémon were and why no one had ever beaten her. He had thought that the real problems would start with maybe her second Pokémon, but… He had already witnessed something incredible in their first battle.

"C… Carn…" James' Pokémon groaned in pain, but he got back on its 'feet', nonetheless, glaring angrily at Haunter, who was pulling down one of his eyelids while sticking his tongue out at him.

Sabrina observed his opponent's Pokémon, and both her and James came to the same conclusion. _Two… No, maybe just another one._ The barrages needed to do Carnivine in for good.

"M-Master James…" Jill brought a hand to her mouth, covering it while looking the poor, battered form of Carnivine.

James was sweating profusely, and Jill and Chimecho were observing him with worry. The young man shook his head. _Calm down, dammit! That's what she wants you to do! Go into a panic! Think, dammit!_ James focused on the field yet again. _She knows that a normal Shadow Punch can't hit Carnivine and now that she's confirmed the effectiveness of this tactic, she's likely to repeat it… It's probably this Pokémon's strongest weapon. So… I have to find a flaw in it._ The violet haired boy gritted his teeth. _Please, be strong, Carnivine._ "Carnivine! Attack again! Use Bullet Seed!"

"Fool. Haunter." The grass type's attack went right through the ghost type's body, who just dove in the face of Carnivine yet again. "Shadow Barrage. Again."

"Carnivine! Try to dodge!" The grass type moved to the left and shifted his body mass to float away further, but Haunter was faster than him, and was upon him in a matter of seconds. "Ngh! Endure, Carnivine!" The Pokémon barely covered himself in time with his whips as Haunter started hitting him again. All the while, James and Sabrina stared at the scene, each one in their own way. James was gripping his punches so much that he was sure he would have dug his nails into his palms had it been not for the gloves he was wearing.

--

"Welcome! Can I please take your order?"

"Hmmm, Dawn seems to like this a lot, hn?" Indeed. After being forced into working because of Pikachu's damage to the snack bar, the owner had forced Ash and Brock to start rebuilding the thing while adding some space. Dawn had been asked to work as a waitress with the other employers. And she had been nothing but smiles and gentleness.

"I think she just likes the uniform." Ash said, snickering, since he thought that it looked a tad ridiculous on the girl. And he immediately received a blow to the back of the head via a piece of bread. When he turned around Dawn was still taking orders like nothing had happened. "… Alright. Is she a ninja or what?"

"Never underestimate a girl's power when she's pissed off or just in some sort of competition. For example, it seems that Jessie has been a bit jealous of all the attention Dawn has been getting…" Brock pointed behind Ash. The younger boy turned around just to see the red-head taking orders from the newest customers while sitting on their table in a pose… Well, Ash thought that the word he was searcing for was 'hot'. And even looking at it from behind was stimulating bad thoughts. He blushed and turned around.

"Damn you, Brock…" The gym leader chuckled a little before unleashing his trademark lascivious smile.

"Oh, come on. Admit that you were staring at her ass… Ouch!" This time it was Brock who received a piece of bread to the back of the head. He turned around just to find nothing out of normal. "… Alright. I heard about girls being 'brain ninjas', but actual ninjas…"

--

"…" James had not even blinked the whole time Carnivine had been the victim of yet another Shadow Barrage from Sabrina's Haunter, watching every bruise inflicted, every move and punch landed. The ghost type, after finishing the work, had hovered back in front of her trainer, who was expecting the grass type to be done for. "Carnivine… If you can, please stand up."

"C… Carn…" The grass type was in pain… But he gritted his large row of teeth and started to get up from his crouched position, much to the Gym Leader's and her father's surprise.

_I guess my prediction was slightly wrong. But he's almost done for._ Sabrina thought, seeing that indeed, Carnivine couldn't take any more hits. Her father, though… He was worried. Really worried.

"…" _He has something in mind._ The man had been in James' mind. Sabrina had vowed to never use her psychic powers to read a trainer or a Pokémon's mind, since that would be hardly fair. And right now, he wasn't either. Because… He almost feared what he would find. _This young man hates seeing his Pokémon getting hurt more than anything. And yet… He didn't falter. He observed how Haunter hammered his Carnivine blow after blow without looking away… Because he wanted to observe that attack!_

The older man then moved his gaze to James. Precisely, his eyes. If before were pained and attentive, now… They slightly shone. There was determination. _He has a plan._ Jill seemed to notice this as well. She swallowed.

"Cccc… Carn!" James' grass type got back in a standing position, glaring at Haunter while getting some rest from staying perfectly still. James swallowed and nodded.

"Good job, Carnivine. Now…" James unclenched his fists… And then clenched them again, this time in determination. "Listen! It's time to turn the tide of this battle!"

Sabrina didn't need her telepathy most of the times to read someone's intentions. By now, it was a matter of habit that she could do so just by looking at their faces. And from what she saw, her opponent wasn't bluffing. He really was sure that he could turn still win the battle. "Haunter."

"Haunter!" The ghost type flew in the air again and was focusing again. He was preparing another Shadow Barrage. And James… James actually relaxed. This didn't go unnoticed by the Gym Leader.

_Good. She's going to use Shadow Barrage. Then… We can win._ "Carnivine! Stay completely still, and use Ingrain!" James said, shouting. Sabrina's father mouth opened slightly, in surprise, as he saw the grass Pokémon use said move, suddenly sprouting roots that went deep, very deep into the ground, looking for nutrients.

_W-What's the sense of using that move now? He basically made himself the best target possible for the Shadow Barrage. He can't hope to regain enough health to resist it!_ Sabrina shares similar thoughts… But she didn't care much. It seemed that this was yet just another trainer that would end up defeated at her hands. But there was no shame in that.

"Haunter. Shadow Barrage." She raised the tone of her voice a bit when saying the name of the attack. James fixated his eyes on Haunter… And followed even his high speed movement when he teleported in front of Carnivine. His eyes widened.

_Now!_ "Carnivine! Endure it! Use Bind!" The Pokémon endured the first few punches and then spread his vine arms ready to envelope Haunter. And Sabrina's father's eyes went wide. Bind would never work on a ghost type. Was he that inexperienced? He turned to Sabrina… And what he saw made him raise an eyebrow. The young woman was surprised. Shocked. He turned back to the field… And he saw something impossible. Something that shouldn't really be possibly happening.

"Caaaaaaarn!" Carnivine's attack had worked. Haunter's main body had been bind and completely blocked by his vine whips. He couldn't move anymore.

"Carnivine! Now! Use Bite! Full power!" The grass type pulled back his head, maw open wide… And then flashed back forward, his extremely strong jaw closing on Haunter, whose body shivered from the shock of the attack for a few seconds. After almost a minute, that it seemed like an eternity, the ghost type stopped moving. Carnivine released it, and his opponent fell to the ground, unconscious, swirls in his eyes and all.

"…" All the occupants in the room apart James had shock evident on their faces. The young man instead trusted his elbow down, trembling, in a silent sign of victory. The first to recover was Sabrina's father, mostly because of Chimecho's loud cheering. "H-Haunter is no more able to fight! The first round goes to Carnivine and challenger James!"

"Great job, Carnivine! Now take a good rest!" James took out the grass type's Pokémon and called it back into it with the typical flash of red light just as Carnivine breathed deeply and slumped to the ground, tiredness taking the best of him. He smiled at the round object before making it small and putting it on his belt again.

"How." James blinked. That was the voice of Sabrina talking to him, but the tone… Well, the tone didn't change. But her words… She was asking him something. "How did you understand."

"…" James understood. She had asked him how he had guessed the weak point of the Shadow Barrage. He scratched the back of his head. "I've just, well, observed." This caught the interest of Sabrina's father. He himself didn't know much about her daughter's made-up attack. "You see, the first time you used the Shadow Punch, Haunter kept his distance. But to use the Shadow Barrage, he moved right in front of Carnivine. That made me think. And for the second time, I made Carnivine try to dodge so I could observe the attack…"

"From another point of view." Sabrina understood. It had been clever. James nodded.

"Yes. I understood that even if Haunter is fast, he can't deliver that many blows in so little time by staying so far from his target." James moved his hand away from the back of his head and turned fully to Sabrina. "But not only that. The normal Shadow Punch gets shot from afar because… Ghost Pokémon can't turn just a part of their body intangible. It's all or nothing at all. So, to throw the Shadow Punch, Haunter turns solid for that split second when it lands. But to throw so many punches, he stays solid a lot of time."

_He__ uncovered everything he needed to know about my attack by observing it just two times._ Sabrina had developed the Shadow Barrage as an attack that attacked both Pokémon and trainer, psychologically. Most of her opponents got shocked by the apparition of an unknown attack, and started thinking about ways of defending from it or dodging it, but it was the first time someone even tried to find a way to turn it against its user. Haunters weren't so uncommon. The trainers focused on the attack, not the Pokémon using it… Till that moment. "I am sorry."

That earned a blink from everyone in the room but the gym leader who had voiced that sentence. James was the most confused one. "Sorry for what?"

"I thought of you as an average trainer. Another person who was here just to lose to me again. But… I was wrong." Sabrina took out a Pokéball and returned Haunter to it. She then moved the Pokéball to her throne with telekinesis, earning a gulp from James. She then started making another one float to her hand. "You're the first trainer who managed to defeat one of my Pokémon."

"E-EH?!" That should have made James feel better or maybe proud, but… It just scared him even more. Sabrina was so strong that in so many years… He knew that she had never lost a battle, but, to not even lose a single round?! No one had ever pushed her to her limit?! And he shivered when he saw her eyes become determined.

"I will honour your strength and be serious. You will face my two strongest Pokémon in the next two rounds." He almost wet himself. He thought Haunter was one of her strongest Pokémon. He got it wrong. Haunter was her strongest Pokémon… Among the ones she was training. She pushed the little button of the Pokéball, which enlarged. And she then used her telekinesis to throw it into the field. "Come out!"

_HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!_

--

"Thank you very much! Come again!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Break time, finally!" Ash and Brock said this almost together while they slumped to the ground. The snack bar closing hour also meant the end of their own work in fixing it up. They were so sore… Dawn chuckled.

"You've working hard, I guess." She commented while handing them a couple of drinks. If Ash would have had enough strength, he would replied with a very out of character 'No shit'. He settled for a groan, which earned from Dawn yet another chuckle.

"Ah, come on, don't be like that. Otherwise you're going to be no fun, this evening." At that, Dawn turned around with a blink. Brock and Ash settled for moving their eyes. Jessie shrugged. "What? Didn't I tell you that we're going out for dinner all together?"

"After all, you were de ones curious about our pasts, twerps." Meowth had just entered the place as well, earning a general moving of gazes to him. The three stared a bit before Dawn broke the silence with a smile.

"Hey, why not. It's not like we really have anything better to do. Right, guys?" Ash and Brock were too tired to complain.

"Whatever. But they better have a place with some good cooking in mind."

--

"Hmmm… I took everything, I suppose…" Housewives. Good, devoted housewives. Devoted to their husbands, their houses, and their daughters. Even if their daughters once had the bad habit of transforming them into dolls. But after a series of events, Sabrina had returned to her old self… More or less. No more turning people into dolls, but she still was… Very serious. She sighed and then commanded a smile to come to her face. "Oh, well… Uh?"

While walking through the halls of their gym/house, she heard sounds coming from the main room where gym challenges took place. She put down the bags with the groceries and opened the door, peeking inside. There was a young man, currently trembling in fear, it seemed, facing Sabrina, who had just released one of her Pokémon. She shook her head. Usual Sabrina, attacking her opponents psychologically. She walked beside her husband, who waved slightly at her, being occupied with his eyes with the battle.

"So, darling? How's it going?" Usually that question meant 'How much time before the challenger surrenders'. Her husband always managed to estimate the exact time needed. It was incredible. But this time… She saw him shake his head slowly from side to side.

"The boy has beaten Haunter." That surprised the woman. Verily, as Thor would say. Someone had managed to beat one of Sabrina's Pokémon? "At first I thought that I was just being unreasonable because of Sabrina's 'vow', but… I think that there's the chance that Sabrina may lose this fight."

"Sabrina…" The woman's eyes widened. She moved her gaze to the trembling violet-haired man, then to Sabrina and then back to her husband. "Are you serious, darling?!"

"…" The man swallowed and slowly nodded. "Yes. And…" He turned around just to find the woman already on her way to the door. "Where the hell are you going?!"

"To bake a cake!" Sabrina's father palmed his face. He should have seen that coming. He shook his head and returned his full attention to the fight in front of him. The Pokéball had opened and released on the field...

_Oh. So she really is being serious._ The man thought, observing the Pokemon Sabrina had just released on the field. She was really being serious, since this was her second most powerful Pokémon.

"…" James slowly uncovered his eyes and observed the field… And blinked. "Eh?" He was expecting something really frightening, some kind of Pokémon that could strike fear in your heart with just a glance, and instead… "A… Venomoth?" James was really, really confused. The Pokémon looked perfectly normal. It was battling his wings while hovering high in the air. It didn't look that strong, but most of all… It wasn't even a Psychic Pokémon. He opened his Pokédex for confirmation.

"_Venomoth. Poison Moth Pokémon. It flutters its wings to scatter dustlike scales. __The scales leach toxins if they contact skin."_ He watched the other details… Bug and Poison. _It… Doesn't make much sense._

"Your Pokémon." Sabrina's voice broke him out of his reverie. He shook his head and went for the back of his belt, for a certain Pokéball.

_No matter. Haunter was some kind of wild card, but Sabrina is a master of Psychic Pokémon. So, this Venomoth knows Psychic attacks. But I don't feel confident in pulling out Growlie yet, even if his being a fire Pokémon would surely allow me an easy victory. So…_ He enlarged the Pokéball and threw it at the center of the field. "Mr Mime! I choose you!"

The Pokéball opened and released James' own Psychic Pokémon, who appeared miming James' after-launch pose. James sweatdropped. "I see that he still has that habit, hn?" He shook his head wildly to regain some sense, and then stared fiercely at his opponent. "Alright, Mr Mime! Let's do this!"

"Mime!" And the Pokémon mimed yet again James' pose. James sweatdropped some more while Sabrina just found the Pokémon's behaviour… Strange, to say the least. No matter. She decided to take the first move… But not before making a declaration.

"This round will be over in three minutes." She said, simply. James' reaction was gaping and saying…

"What?"

"Venomoth. Gust." Continued the Gym Leader, without offering an explanation to her opponent… And then all hell broke loose. James covered his eyes instinctively when Venomoth started flapping his wings as fast as humanly possible… Or maybe even more.

"Ahhhh!" James' hat flew away and he fell on his butt and skidded for a couple meters. Mister Mime wasn't faring much better, almost being blown away as well. The rocket slowly managed to open one of his eyes, now being far enough from the field. _W-What is this?! It's like a tornado!_

"Venomoth. Supersonic." Without stopping the movement of his wings, the bug Pokémon began to emit soundwaves. James was sure that he had seen the ground around Mister Mime's feet crack under the force of that attack. And he just couldn't bring himself to think about how his Pokémon could be faring.

"Miiime…" Exactly like he thought, Mr Mime was basically seeing hell. The gust of wind kept him from moving at all. And the supersonic was shaking his brain like a pool ball in an aquarium. But most of all, it was preventing him from hearing James' commands. He had been shouting names of attacks for a while, now, but he couldn't hear a single one.

"Venomoth. Finish him with Psybeam." Venomoth suddenly stopped flapping his wings, even if it would take a little while for the wind to stop completely, and started focusing energy on his antennas. James gasped. Psychic attacks were supposed to be invisible. That much energy…

"Mime! Use Reflect!" He shouted. The wind was dying down, but the effects from the Supersonic attack and the Gust attack were still present. Mime couldn't see nor hear anything clearly.

"M… Mime!" But still, he managed to hear James' voice, raising a shining shield of psychic energy in front of him. James took a much needed breath.

"Alright! Now…"

"Useless." Sabrina cut him off before he could finish talking… And the Psybeam cut through the shield like it was butter and hit Mr Mime right on. The Psychic type trembled and shivered, in convulsions, before ending a few meters from his standing point on the ground, unconscious. All of this in a few seconds and under James' terrified gaze. Sabrina's father didn't waste time in raising his arm.

"Mr Mime is no longer able to fight. The second round goes to Gym Leader Sabrina." He said, while James couldn't do anything but stare at the prone, unconscious form of his Pokémon, still unable to exactly grasp what had happened, because of the speed and the little time it had taken…

"… What…" It was all he managed to mutter. Sabrina took out her Pokéball and made Venomoth return.

"Once I toyed with my opponent and made a fool of him. But now, no matter what kind of challenger appears before me, I always fight showing my full power." James kept his gaze on his Pokémon, who had been taken out before being able to do anything. He then sighed. He understood why she did so. Out of respect for who she fought. But he kinda would have liked more if she 'toyed' with him.

"Don't worry, Mime. It's not your fault… It's mine." He held out his friend's Pokéball and made him enter it. He then got back on his feet and out of the field, still looking at the ground, worry in his heart. "It seems like… We're both down to our last Pokémon."

"Indeed. And I suppose that there's no need to tell you that…" Sabrina used her telekinesis again, and she made hover to her right hand a Pokéball that she held embedded in her throne. James swallowed loudly when she held it in front of her. "This is my strongest Pokémon."

"… Growlithe!" The Growlithe, who till that moment had been napping in an angle of the room, reacted immediately to his owner's call. He woke up immediately and run to his side. James kneeled down and petted him while talking to him in a low tone of voice.

"Growlie… You're my last chance." _If I don't win here, I'll have to get to Jotho on feet, and I'm sure my parents will not let me get as far as Celadon City._ He swallowed and then moved his attention to Sabrina's form. Growlie mimicked him, and started growling. "… Growlie, we don't know what kind of Pokémon she will use. But we know that it will be very powerful. So, I want you to dodge all its attacks, at first. Once we get an idea of his abilities… We will counterattack. Alright?"

"Growlithe!" The fire type barked in approval and then jumped forward, landing in the field right in front of James, his face determination and confidence, totally different from the pale form of his owner.

"It seems that you've made your decision." Sabrina pulled her arm to the side again, the ball still hovering over her palm, but it suddenly shot forward to the field. "Come forward! Alakazam!"

"A-ALAKAZAM?!" Just the name made James jump on its place. He remembered her having a Kadabra… It had evolved, it seemed. The apparition of the towering presence on the field made it even more clear. The violet haired man suddenly felt like vomiting. Alakazams were like, the most powerful psychic types ever… And this one had been trained by Sabrina for years. He shivered when the psychic type held out both his hands and then pulled one back to the side of his head, in some sort of battle pose. "Oh, man, this isn't good!"

"Shall we begin?" Sabrina raised a hand, pointing it, open palm, at her Pokémon. "Alakazam. Psychic."

"!!! Growlie! Dodge it!" James had prepared about that attack. It was basically a blast of telekinetic force. As some fans of the most succesfull franchise in the history of cinema would call it, a force push. Growlie jumped out of the way just in time, noticing the blast by the air that it moved. When it impacted the ground, it created a little crater. _Watch out, Growlie!_

"Alakazam. Again." The psychic Pokémon still hadn't moved from his position. He just turned his head to Growlie's new position, and sent another blast of psychic energy in that direction. The intelligent Pokémon moved out of the way yet again. "Keep on attacking him."

"Alakazam!" The psychic type's eyes flashed yellow. All hell broke loose. The speed and power of the gym leader's Pokémon seemed to suddenly raise. Growlie was doing nothing but run around and jump to dodge the attacks, like his owner had told him. But it seemed that the more attacks he dodged, less was the reaction time, the time with which he managed to dodge with.

"…" James noticed this, and he also understood why. _He's fast… Very fast._ While thinking about this, he also noticed that they couldn't keep on dodging with that kind of speed.

"Growlithe!" Alakazam's latest attack nailed Growlie's right back leg, much to James' surprise and shock.

"Now, Alakazam! Finish him!" _A pity… I thought he could have been… A pity indeed._ She ordered, and Alakazam shoot out a full charged psychic against the still recovering Growlithe. James gripped his punches, hard.

"…" _I can just hope Growlie knows that attack!_ "Growlie! I beg you, use Agility!" James knew that to learn that move, that basically sent a Pokémon's speed flying through the roof, his Growlie had to have at least a certain experience in battling and running in particular… But fortunately for him, one of his favourite activities was running after Pidgeys in the enormous garden of his family.

"Growlie!" The outcome of the attack surprised Sabrina and Alakazam too. The fire Pokémon basically disappeared from the spot he was standing on before. And even more surprisingly, it was Sabrina the first one who noticed where the opponent had gone to.

"Alakazam! Behind you!" She said, and one could almost feel a little panic, in her voice. Growlie's feat really had surprised her. In a flash, the fire type had managed to dodge the attack and suddenly reappear on Alakazam's right side. Before the psychic type had any chance to retaliate, Growlie had already bitten onto it's right arm, making him wince in pain. But he retaliated by sending a little blast of psychic energy in his enemy's direction, to which Growlie reacted by disappearing again and reappearing right in front of James.

"Great job, Growlie!" James said, giving his Pokémon a thumbs up. Sabrina was visibly shocked but she had just witnessed. She had never seen a Pokémon as fast as her Alakazam. Her Alakazam literally moved at the speed of thought…

"…" _But it seems that they can do that as well… Since he didn't give him the order of attacking. Just to speed up. The Growlithe acted on his own… He trusted his Pokémon enough to make him act on his own…_ As incredible as that was, Sabrina was tasting right now her own past medicine. Fighting someone who didn't need to talk to make his Pokémon fight.

"Alright, Growlie! We can do this!" James had suddenly picked out of nowhere his trademark rose, and held it to his face. It seemed that whenever he began to feel confident about something, he got a rose out of nowhere. "Let's go!"

"Growlithe!" Growlithe suddenly jumped forward and then seemed to disappear again, leaving after-images of his high-speed movement everywhere on the field. Sabrina's Alakazam's was visibly confused.

"Alakazam! Use Future Sight!" The Alakazam's eyes suddenly flashed yellow. James blinked at that. Wasn't Future Sight an attack technique? And yet… The psychic type this time, moved out of the way just in time to not get bitten by Growlie again, much to both Pokémon and Trainer's surprise. "Now! Retaliate! Psychic!"

"Darn! Growlie! Don't let him hit you!" Alakazam released another enormous blast of psychic energy right in front of himself, Growlie dodged it just in time.

"Future Sight!" Sabrina said again. Alakazam's eyes flashed yellow again and he teleported out of the way of Growlie's attack, reappearing behind him.

"Don't let up, Growlie! Flame Thrower!" Growlie didn't even wait to land on the ground to turn around and release a torrent of flames towards the Psychic type.

"Stop the attack, Alakazam!" This had happened to Ash too, when he had decided to challenge Sabrina. Pikachu's thunderbolt had been stopped in mid-air by Kadabra's telekinesis, and then hurled back at him with almost not effort. This happened now as well. The flames of Growlithe's attack met some kind of invisible barrier. He could see Alakazam struggling to held at bay the flames, though. In the end, he succeeded. The fire circled around him for a few seconds before being hurled at Growlie again in the shape of a dragon.

"Growlie!" The fire-type disappeared from the spot where he had been just an instant before the attack hit, nullifying it and making it unable for Alakazam to use it again. The fire type reappeared right in front of James… And then began to pant heavily. "…" _Keeping up that speed for so much time… It's draining for growly, of course._ Then James moved his eyes in the direction of Sabrina and Alakazam. The psychic type was panting heavily as well. It seemed that constantly using his psychic powers and his speed put a strain on both mind and body. James nodded to himself. _Right… If we keep this up, we can win. The bite attack from before hurt him. So, he's the one who will run out of energy and get sloppy first. And then…_

"Alakazam. Recover." James' jaw met the ground as Alakazam suddenly flashed white and when the light dispersed it wasn't panting anymore. "…" _This will suffice. It will be enough to land in a finishing attack._

_Oh, darn! What now?!_ The violet-haired man suddenly felt screwed, and his rose was paying the consequence for it, judging from how hard he was gripping it. _Darn, James. Think, think, think! Or you're done for! Recover lets him recover enough energy to keep on fighting unless he goes unconscious on the spot. So, that means that I have to hit him strongly enough to take him out._

"Alakazam! Psychic!" Sabrina actually seemed worked up about the fight. Growlie dodged the concussive blast of psychic energy, barely getting out of the way in time. James cursed under his breath.

_The only attacks that are able to do that are Bite and Flamethrower, but he will dodge the first one and parry and turn back on us the second one, even if it puts strain on him. I… …_ Suddenly, James' eyes widened. He remembered something. The all-nighter on the Pokédex… And a certain ability of his fiery fire type. _That… Yes! It can work! It will work!_ James suddenly smiled and gripped his fists as strong as he could, in determination. Sabrina's father noticed this, and he began to sweat.

_That smile… Sabrina, watch out._ He silently prayed as Growlie jumped out of the way of yet another Psychic. James suddenly shouted…

"Growlie! Use Flamethrower!"

"Grooooooooowlithe!" The puppy Pokémon gathered all his energy and let out another torrent of flames while in mid-air. Sabrina shot out her right arm and hand, instinctively.

"Alakazam! Block it!" The psychic type obeyed and focused all his telekinesis in front of him, to stop the fire attack that was even stronger than before. He actually emitted a grunt of painful strain… But in the end, he stopped it. And without his trainer needing to tell him, he redirected the stream of fire at the attacking Pokémon.

"Growlithe! Stay still!" James suddenly shouted. Everyone's but his eyes, in the room, went wide. Sabrina watched in shock as her opponent's Pokémon got engulfed in flames, Jill and Chimecho almost in horror. But the fire type didn't even move. He just took the attack and held his ground, even if the cloud of flames didn't stop burning not even after landing on him.

"…" Sabrina just stared. The match was over. The Pokémon wouldn't be able to stand long after that… Suddenly, she had to stop with telekinesis the rose that James had thrown at her. She observed his gaze… And found his mouth in a thin line, his eyes showing a determination… No, confidence. It was like… He thought he had won.

"Checkmate." With that simple word, all hell broke loose in the room. Suddenly a torrent of heated air permeated it, Sabrina turned to Growlithe… Just in time to see the fire type unleash another Flamethrower, unlike any of the ones he had used till that moment. Stronger, faster, bigger. She didn't get a chance to order to Alakazam to block it, even if she realized immediately that it wouldn't have done the psychic type any good.

"Alakazaaaaaaaaaam!" The humanoid Pokémon got enveloped by the torrent of flame before it happened. A conflagration. The flames actually generated an explosion that everyone in the room had to shield their eyes from. Sabrina watched in mute shock, her mouth actually opening a little to display that emotion, as her Pokémon flew high in the air and then landed harshly on the ground, unconscious, charred, swirls in his eyes. She slowly turned her gaze to Growlie as the flames and the heated air quickly disappeared from the room, finding him a bit burned, panting… But still on his feet.

"… How…" Sabrina's father was the first to voice his shock.

"Flash Fire." James simply said, and comprehension downed on the family of esp-powers users. "It's Growlie's special ability. When he gets hit with a fire-type move, his own fire-type moves power up in retaliation. And from the strength of that Flamethrower, I guess that the strengthening is proportional to the strength of the attack." _More than a Flamethrower, it looked like a Fire Blast._

"… I…" Sabrina couldn't do anything but stare in front of her, her gaze focused on nothing in particular. Suddenly, her telekinesis disappeared, the rose she had been holding falling to the ground along with Alakazam's Pokéball. She fell on her knees and then on her hands, supporting her body that suddenly felt incredibly heavy. "I…"

"…" Sabrina's father noticed how his daughter couldn't bring herself to pronounce those words. He took that task upon himself. Even if he himself couldn't believe what was about to leave his lips. "… Alakazam… Is no longer able to fight. The round goes to Growlithe. Trainer James… Wins the match… 2-1." He then swallowed. There wasn't really the need to add anything else, but… He felt like it was necessary, to confirm everything to his and his daughter's ears. "Gym Leader Sabrina… Loses."

"…" James slowly pulled out Growlithe's Pokéball and then made the Pokémon return. He needed much, much rest. He had fought so fiercely, and trusted in him that much, obeying him till the end… They had won. "Thanks, Growlie…" Then, James smiled… And his eyes rolled in the back of his head, and he fainted on the spot. Chimecho and Jill immediately hurried to his side while Sabrina's father slowly walked to his daughter, who was still staring at the ground, having not moved from her position at all.

--

"Ash! What happened?!" Brock had been startled when Ash had suddenly let brick and spatula fall to the ground, only to quickly join them on his butt.

"I…" He didn't know how to explain it. He just felt like… Like falling on his butt for some kind of reason, like he should suddenly feel shocked and ashamed for something that had just happened… But what?

--

"Hmmm… Chimecho, your heal bell has such a nice sound…"

"Chiiiime…"

"Uhmmm… Uh? Chimecho… Ah!" James suddenly shot up in a sitting position, throwing off the covers of the bed. He looked around. Wherever it was… It wasn't the gym of before, but a room… Full of dolls? Shelves upon shelves of dolls. And the bed… He blinked when he noticed the laced covers, pink in colour. "Ehm… Where…"

"You're in my room." James jumped out of the bed and ended up on the floor before slamming his back into a wall. Just beside his bed, on a chair, there was Sabrina, his Chimecho just beside her, a smile on his face.

"You… Why… How… What…" James began, taking huge breaths after each word.

"You don't remember?" She simply said, and the violet haired young man seemed to calm down… And then his eyes widened as he recalled what had happened just before he had blacked out.

"I… I won?" Sabrina simply held out her hand, a small object on her palm. A badge, in the shape and colour of a golden circle, with another smaller circle inside. The object suddenly began to float from her hand through the air, stopping in front of James' face. The man slowly, slowly, grasped the object out of tin air. "… This… Is…"

"The marsh badge. It's the first one I ever bestow upon a trainer. Be proud. Ah, and…" She suddenly made another object float in front of James. A golden doll of an Alakazam. "The doll too, right? I… Uh?"

"…" After grasping the marsh badge James had lowered his head and then his whole body had slumped to the ground. Sabrina had noticed something else too. The water droplets that now fell over his cheeks.

"You're… Crying…" Sabrina stated. James snorted and wiped his eyes with his right arm, now devoid of his private eye jacket.

"Ah… I-I'm sorry, it's just… I'm happy…" He was happy that he could finally leave Kanto, happy that he could make up a bit with one of his past victims, but most of all… He was happy because he had won. He had won against such a strong trainer all on his own, without tricks or anything. It was the biggest thing he had ever done in his life. "Just… Happy…" He shook his head from side to side to clear his eyes from the tears, and showed Sabrina a smile, even if the bit of moisture left in his eyes was a very evident contrast.

Sabrina just stared at him for a few seconds before Chimecho decided to take the dool himself and fell on the ground along with it the moment Sabrina let her telekinetic hold disappear. She stared at his face that now lightened in a slight laugh upon seeing the distress in which his Pokémon had ended. _… This man…_ "… Can I… Ask you something?"

"Uh?" James turned in Sabrina's direction, surprised by the sudden question. He nodded.

"Why do you think I've lost?" James was even more surprised, this time by the question itself. He brought a hand to his right cheek, scratching it with his index finger.

"Well… Hmmm…" _Talk about difficult questions… How can I put this…_ He thought about the words to use for a few seconds. "Because… You don't pay attention to others." That simple sentence confused the hell out of Sabrina. James noticed this and groaned. "Ehm… How can I explain this more clearly… You're a master of Psychic Pokémon, right? You probably know everything about them. More than most people in the world, but… In a Pokémon fight your Pokémon are just half of the incognita."

"Half… Of the incognita…" Sabrina repeated, almost hypnotized. James nodded.

"It's a lesson I learned myself. In this occasion, you lost because you didn't know about Growlie's Flash Fire. If you had known about the possibility that his fire attacks could become even stronger, you would have never directed his own attacks at him, right?" Sabrina didn't nod or anything when James stopped talking. He took it as a permission to continue. "Basically… You lost because you focus too much on your Pokémon and too little on the ones of your opponent. Me… I spent the whole night studying psychic types. Well, it's not that much of a studying. I will probably forget everything by tomorrow…"

Sabrina just kept on staring while James had started to mutter things to himself. Little did James know that what had just told was the difference between a 'simple' Gym Leader and a member of the Elite Four. A simple Gym Leader was a master of his own Pokémon. A member of the Elite Four was a master of his own Pokémon but didn't neglect studying the others, the one that they can found in the hands of their opponents.

"I… I understand…" Sabrina slowly lowered her gaze, till it met the ground. What he had said made sense. She raised her eyes to stare at him through her bangs, feeling that somehow, she had made the right choice. Even if it had been a choice that she hade made years before that day, it had been the right choice. James suddenly noticed her stare and turned to her again. Sabrina quickly averted her gaze as a reaction. "Sorry…"

"For what?"

"Ahhhhh! You're awake! Finally!" Suddenly the door of the room slammed open, revealing a woman that James identified as Sabrina's mom. "Dinner is almost ready! I brought you a change of clothes!"

"Ehm…" James didn't know what to make of the woman as she walked in the room and leaned a set of trousers and a t-shirt on the desk on one end of the room. "Dinner?"

"Of course! It's already late, you know! Your Pokémon have all been brought to the Pokémon center, except for Chimecho! Your maid and you will be our guests tonight, of course! We must party!" James sweatdropped.

"Party? For what?" _Her daughter lost and she wants to celebrate?_ It didn't make any sense to him. The woman cheered up.

"But of course, Sabrina's en… …" Suddenly the woman stopped talking when she noticed something pressing around her neck. But there was nothing but air… She moved her gaze to Sabrina, who had extended her arm and hand in her direction, her hand in the shape of a claw, her eyes firm and a bit angry, but there was the hint of a blush on her cheeks. The older woman just smiled "Sabrina… What did we say about force-choking people?"

"… It's not nice." Sabrina relented and let her mother go. The older woman chuckled at her distress and just walked out of the room, leaving a confused James and a still blushing Sabrina in the room.

"… What was all that about?" He asked. Sabrina didn't reply.

--

"And then I tried to buy the Rapidash a prostitute?"

"I love this young man!" He seemed that his false background that came straight out of webcomics had fooled just Sabrina's mom. You didn't need psychic powers to understand that James had been bullshitting them for the duration of the dinner. The young man, on his part, didn't understand just what was with the woman's sudden interest in his background, nor what they needed to 'party' about, but she had indeed prepared enough food and enough cake for such an occasion.

"Ehm… Thanks." _Alright, time to get out of here. It's late enough to use that excuse, after all._ James slowly got up from his seat. "Well… We shall take our leave. After all, it won't do if I'm not by my Pokémon's side when they wake up."

"Awww… Too bad." The woman said. Her husband decided to take her away from the table after bidding goodnight to James, fearing what she could say. Jill hurried to the door before James while Sabrina walked him to her room again, where the clothes he had been wearing before were resting after Sabrina's mother had finished cleaning them. James with a blush had closed himself into the room while changing.

_Feels weird… Changing my clothes into a girl's room…_ He thought while putting on his private eye clothes again, looking around. _It's actually… Quite feminine, for a room. Judging from her usual behaviour, I would have never guessed… Oh, crap. What if she's 'listening'?_

"What are you going to do, now?" He almost jumped out of his skin upon hearing her voice coming from behind the door. He breathed deeply and calmed himself down.

"Well… To Jotho with the train… And then a ship to go all the way back to Sinnoh." James said, putting on his shirt and buttoning it up.

"You're not going to challenge other gyms in Kanto?" James smiled sadly, shaking his head.

"No… To tell you the truth, I'm not really a trainer. I'm too… Wimpy. The fact that I faint every time I win should have given you an idea." He let a few seconds of silence permeate the air before continuing. "If I challenged Erika and then you… It was just by chance. It's been incredibly fun, but… The main reason I came to Kanto was because of a friend. And I have friends waiting for me back in Sinnoh."

"… So… Friends. Everything you've done… You've done for friends?" James nodded, even if Sabrina couldn't see him from behind the door.

"Yes. You could say so… Even if I have to admit…" He snorted. "Did you see how happy I was? I was happy to have succeeded at something so big… Like beating you. Even if it was just for a short while… It was fun."

"… A shame… Really." After those words, James heard Sabrina's steps becoming more and more distant by the second. He was confused by her parting words.

… _What… What was up with her?_ For some reason, her tone and choice of words reminded him of Erika's own parting words… Why?

--

"Ahhhhhhhh! My doll! My doll! Incredible! You really did it!"

"Geez, thanks for the trust…" _Even if I still can't believe it myself…_ James observed as Duplica smothered her newest doll that finally completed her collection, while her two Dittos did the same to each other.

"And just in time for the newest collection!" James almost felt like facefaulting but he resisted, mostly because Duplica had kept her word and shoved in his face… "Here you go! One magnet train pass, ready for use!"

"… Thanks, Duplica." He picked out the pass and nodded to himself, and then turned to Jill. "Well, Jill. This is where we part ways."

"E-Eh?" The girl blinked, confused by James' words.

"It's been fun even if I risked my life a couple of times. But you do not need to follow me anymore. After all… You have your life, I have mine. So… You're fired." James said with a wink. Jill looked like she was about to retort, but she just bowed slightly with a sigh, in the end.

"As you wish, ma… Ehm, James." He smiled at her and then extended his hand to Duplica.

"Well, I'll see you around, then." The girl replied, grasping his hand with her own, with a huge grin on her face.

"I guess it could happen. And try to not show your dittos around too much, or I might feel like stealing them ag…" He immediately slapped a hand over his mouth. He wanted to make a joke, but he had just… Duplica blinked.

"Eh? How do you know that someone has tried to stole my Pokémon, before? You…" She suddenly focused her eyes on his face. James was sweating. "You…"

"GOTTA GO! ADIEU!"

"W-WAIT!" Duplica said, but James had already boarded the train in the arc of five seconds. Duplica groaned. "Damn, I can swear I knew him from somewhere… Hey, who was that… Uh?" Duplica had turned around to talk to Jill, but the girl had disappeared too. "Where did she go?"

--

"Welcome aboard, sir."

"Thanks." It had been a nice training trip, and Kanto really was much different from Hoen. Now it was time to explore Jotho. He had heard that there was the strongest gym leader of that region was Lance's cousin and a specialist in Dragon types, just like him. It would be interesting.

--

"Welcome aboard, lady."

"Thanks. Now…" She began to look around, searching for a familiar mop of violet hair. _It shouldn't be difficult to find him. I mean, how many people can have violet hair, in the world?_

--

"…" She adjusted her ponytail yet again. It was such an hassle, that hairstyle, but they had always told her that it suited her face and her eyes. She hoped so… She hadn't paid that much attention to her looks in her life.

--

"Damn that man…" She said while changing in her work attire, before covering everything with a brown coat. She couldn't reveal herself yet, after all. "Ever since I met that guy, everything goes to hell. First, the plan for kidnapping one of his two parents goes to hell. Now I had the perfect cover for this next mission, but noooo… He had to be mister nice guy. Now I understand why the chief is so tired of him and those other two wastes of organic matter…"

She picked up her own Pokénav from her bag, turning it on by clicking on the engraved red 'R' on the front. "If I knew that it was going to be like this, I should have just ordered Machamp to use lethal force, back then…" She opened a communication and brought the device to her right ear. "Here's agent Jill. Reporting."

_Continues…_

_In the next chapter…_

Just as James believes that he can finally relax for a day or so, that's the time the Magnet train takes to travel from Kanto to Jotho, all kind of things start to happen to him. The last but not least of it, Team Rocket hijacking the train. Stay tuned!


	6. Train Crisis I

Oh, well… What can I say. It's incredible what a good talk can do. My father has been talking to me for years in his fashion, nothing. My brother talks to me once, and I get my ass in gear. :) I aced 4 exams in one month, and so, I'm back on the FF boat. Expect almost all my stories to be updated, pals! One will be replaced by another version of it, we can say. I will not say which one it is till the time comes, sorry. For today, enjoy the update of No Reading and Journey of a Thousand James. Enjoy!

**Journey of a thousand James**

**Chapter6: Train-jacking? Or something like that**

"Hmm… How I missed this sensation…"

"Growl!" James was eager to do something that he had forgot how it felt like. Travelling on a train. He didn't know why, but he just loved travelling by train. The moving scenery, the feeling of the train as it travels on its tracks, the leather of the seats. He had let out Growlie once he had confirmed that it was okay to do so.

"And so… Here we are, on our way back to Sinnoh… Ah, right. I'm on my way back. You've never been there, Growlie." The fire type gave a yap of acknowledgment as he walked beside James. The violet haired young man had decided to have a coffee before looking for a vacant compartment where to sit. "Well, I bet you'll love it. It's a bit colder than Kanto, but you shouldn't have problems with that, right?"

"Growl!" The puppy Pokémon gave a yap of agreement that earned a chuckle from James while he opened a door to see if the compartment was empty.

"Ah. Sorry, I thought it wa… Was…" James blinked, trying to clear his vision with that simple gesture, because he was pretty sure he was seeing things. It didn't work, the vision was still there. He began to rub his eyes with his clenched fists, since it had to be a vision, for various reasons. First, the person's appearance slightly differed from how he remembered it: her hair was now gathered in a high ponytail; her choice of clothing had not changed much, but there was a little more variety of colour; the most change was in her face, mostly her eyes, that seemed bigger and less dark; all in all, she was prettier than he remembered her. Second, of course, there was the fact that it seemed like she had been tailing and waiting for him, and that didn't make any sense. Even after rubbing with his clenched fists, though, she was still there. So… "… What… Are you doing here, Sabrina?"

"… I was waiting for you." She replied, confirming James' suspect that she wasn't a vision.

"… Why? And…" He had just noticed something else. "What's the whip for?"

"… Self-defence." She simply replied, moving her gaze to said object for just one instant before returning it to James. The violet haired trainer groaned and returned Growlithe to its Pokéball before stepping inside the van and closing it behind him.

"… You were waiting for me." He stated. Sabrina didn't even nod, since she guessed there was no need to do so. "… Wh… GHK!" She had lied about the whip. It wasn't for self-defence only. It was useful for other things too, as in, grasping people's neck and pulling them to you.

--

"Hmm… He should be in here. The rest of the compartments are empty…" The girl straightened her dress and coughed into her fist, to clear her voice, and then went over the plan yet again. She had to act surprised to find him in that precise place, on that precise day, on that precise train for that precise destination. "Alright… Breath deeply…" She opened the door of the compartment and tried to act as natural as possible. "Excuse me, is this…"

"Mmmhppp!" The sound made her notice two things, that the person she was searching for was in that room and also that he was unable to speak at the moment. Things that happen: if a girl is pinching your nose to get you to open your mouth so that she can slip her tongue inside, your air supply gets cut short quickly, if his trashing around and blueish colour was any indication. The 'aggressor' notice the newcoming and interrupted her 'ministrations' to raise her head and stare at said newcomer, letting James get back much needed air with a loud gasp.

"… Sorry. I didn't know…" She had acted maybe too natural. She had blushed and closed the door again… Only to suddenly realized what she had just seen. She slammed the door open again. "WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Anf… Anf… E-Erika?" James managed to say once he had gained enough air back to talk. The Celadon gym leader seemed really mad, the red that covered her whole face a stark contrast with her white sun-dress and yellow hat.

"… You're interrupting us." Sabrina said.

"No, I'm interrupting YOU! What the hell are you doing, Sabrina?!" Erika kneeled down and pulled out James from under the violet-haired girl's body, freeing him.

"… We know each other?" Sabrina said, getting back on her feet and adjusting her hair-tie, while Erika narrowed her eyes at her.

"We've met at the Kanto gym leaders' annual meeting, last year. I'm Erika, Celadon city's gym leader." She replied, helping James back on his feet, while the two girls kept on staring at each other.

"…" Sabrina seemed deep in thought for a few seconds, before she silently punched her right palm. "Ah, I remember. You're the girl who fell asleep in the garden."

"D-Did you really have to bring that up?!" Erika said, suddenly outraged. James groaned and once he adjusted his clothes he gained back his rationality as well.

"Alright, important things first. Sabrina, quoting what Erika said before, what the hell?!" James said, really nervous and blushing since he could still remember how her tongue felt in his mouth even if he had done as much as possible to avoid enjoying it.

"… It's because of my vow." That made the two other occupants of the compartment blink. Sabrina continued. "Some time ago, I decided that I would devote myself as a woman to the first trainer who would ever defeat me fair and square in a real gym challenge."

"Devote as a…" James blushed, understanding and further panic in his mind. "B-B-B-BUT THAT'S… I MEAN… I MEAN, ISN'T THAT EXCESSIVE?! I MEAN, I JUST… Ehrm…" James stared at her face, finding no reaction. She really had meant what she had said. He groaned, thinking that maybe the girl's mother had had something to do with the thing. "But, I mean… What if it had been a really ugly man? Or, a woman?" Still no reaction. James pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling an incoming headache. It was probably his subconscious trying to restrain upcoming images of Sabrina-on-another-girl action. He then turned his head to Erika, who had gone stiff from the explanation. "… You're not here for something like that too, right?"

"Ah! N-No! I-I-I just decided to go on a training trip! It's a coincidence, I swear!" Half a truth, but James was in shock enough to believe it. The violet haired man just let himself fall on a seat of the compartment before staring at Sabrina again.

"… You're not going to change your mind easily, are you?" This time the violet-haired girl shook her head. James whined a little. "Why do I always end up in a mess? … Uh?" Also, James noticed something else. Erika's hair were now black and more trimmed, much softer looking. He shrugged it off. It wasn't like another reality was slowly becoming dominant and/or fusing with another, like videogame versions of people over anime versions, especially if the videogame version were much cuter.

--

"You need anything else, Drake, sir?"

"Thanks for your concern, but I'm fine." The sea-man answered to the waiter with a nod of his head and took another sip of wine. They sure treated first-class passengers fine, on that train. Being a member of the Elite Four, even if not from that same region, had its advantages. He would have thought that he wouldn't enjoy the trip on the magnet train much, being used to travelling by sea. He had chosen to use that just because it was the fastest way to go from Kanto to Jotho. The trip so far had been enjoyable, though. The scenery didn't bore him as he thought, and they had sea food, unlike how he expected. "Hmm…"

He picked up the pamphlet he had been given at the station again, checking the itinerary of the train. It was a straight line to Goldenrod city, but it passed through a lot of different scenery. They were passing through the Celadon forest zone right now, but to him the most interesting point would be when they would pass through the Kanto/Jotho mountain range, the highest point in the whole region. He was curious to see something that was the exact opposite but at the same time a brother to the ocean he loved.

--

"Hmm…" In the meanwhile, another girl that was an acquaintance to the violet haired young man had boarded the train and was inspecting another copy of that same pamphlet. Her interest was in the same point as Drake as well. The Kanto/Jotho mountain range, but for another reason altogether. It wasn't much that it was the highest point. That was just part of it. The main reason was that it was also the most isolated place ever. It had taken years to build the tracks because of how hard it had been to reach that point across the mountains. It was perfect for their plan. It would have gone a bit smoother if she had been able to board it with the dolt she had been travelling with to that point, but, she guessed that going in stealth-mode a bit earlier would help get into the right mood for the mission.

--

"Ehm… Maybe we should go get something to drink?"

"… I'm fine."

"Same here." James groaned in exasperation. Things seemed to get worse and worse. After eventually resigning himself to the fact that Sabrina was going to follow him at least to Jotho, the climate in the room seemed to have dropped a few degrees. Sabrina was sitting beside him, with him dodging every once in a while an attempt to latch onto his right arm. Erika was sitting in front of him, with her eyes seemingly closed, but her face was very tense. Both of them had dodged all his attempts at moving to a room with more people.

_I guess I could try __the conversation way…_ "So, Erika… You said you decided to go on a training trip?" He said, earning a blink from the gym leader and a softer expression to adorn her features.

"Yes, I thought that it was due, after our last meeting. I mean, I've never been to much of Jotho, and I've never been to Sinnoh and Hoen. I have a responsibility to keep myself adjourned, and also strong, right? It will be a chance to capture some new Pokémon." The 'nature-loving princess' replied with a soft smile. James nodded in acknowledgment. "I'm going to start anew. I brought just one Pokémon with me, on this trip."

"Me too." James turned to the newest addition to the conversation, Sabrina. "I just brought Haunter."

"I see… Ah. Now that I think about it, since you're… Going to tag along for a while, can I ask a favour of you, Sabrina?" Both girls blinked at the sudden request from James. "You see, I would like some pointers in training Mr Mime and Chimecho. They're both psychic types, but I don't have much experience with them, while you are… Well, you are Sabrina."

"I…" Sabrina was a bit surprised by the sudden request, but she remembered what her mother had told her. She needed to be as supportive and helpful as possible. She bowed her head slightly. "I would be more than happy to help you."

"Yes! Thank you!"

"But…" She suddenly said, surprising James, not expecting her to pose some kind of condition. She had raised a hand and pointed at his arm. He sweatdropped and sighed, throwing his hands up in the air in surrender. Sabrina took the hint and latched herself onto his right arm, cue Erika's forehead suddenly sporting a bulging vein.

"Alright, just what the hell is with you?" The grass-pokémon trainer said, irritation clear in her voice.

"Physical contact is just natural in a relationship between lovers… Right?" Sabrina asked, believing that maybe the information she had gotten from her mother was wrong. Erika shook her head in disbelief.

"It is natural, but as the word itself says, it's something that must come natural between the two. You can't… Blackmail someone into giving you closeness. I mean, before closeness, there's the matter of having feelings for each other." The black-haired girl said, crossing her hands over her tights in a very dignified manner and closing her eyes, her expression showing her displeasure and indignation.

"… You say that I must first make a man have romantic feelings for me before I can hope to be close to him this way… 'Naturally'." Erika nodded, while James was wishing that they would act like he was there.

"Exactly."

"H-Hey! It's lunchtime! Shouldn't we be going?"

"I'm fine."

"I'm not hungry." James felt the need to meet the ground with his face, hard. So, not only they would keep that situation up for god knew how long but he would skip lunch as well?

--

"Is the accommodation to your liking, Drake-dono? We apologize, but the restaurant car is shared…"

"I don't mind at all. Did you take me for some kind of snob?" The sea-man laughed. They were over-concerned with his liking of the trip, it seemed. The lunch had been really good, and the scenery just kept on getting better and better, for him and the other passengers too, if he had to guess from their excitement. "By the way, how… Uh?"

"A-Ahhh!" The waiter had been surprised as well, but in a heavier way than Drake since he was standing. The sudden shaking of the train, due to the activation of the brakes, had been disastrous for him, almost making the young man lose his footing. Others lost it completely. "W-What happened?"

"… We stopped." _In the middle of nowhere?_ Drake stood once the train had completely stopped and opened the side window of the car, sticking half of his body out to observe… His eyes widened slightly. "A… Snorlax?" Indeed. The restaurant car was near the head car, so he could see clearly what had happened. There was a Snorlax sleeping on the tracks, stopping the train's passage. Drake frowned and went back inside. "This is bad… Snorlax aren't that easy to move… Or to wake up."

"B-But it's strange to find a Snorlax so high up as well, right?" The waiter said, dusting his clothes off. "We're on the top of the Viridian range. There's basically only Geodude and such, up here, because there's not much food to eat. A Snorlax would starve to death…"

"Right. Then…"

"Can we have your attention, please?" The waiter and Drake turned around and then paled. There had been a few additions to the train's passengers, it seemed. Many were still boarding the now still train from the outside. All of them were wearing black uniforms with a red 'R' in the middle of the upper piece of clothing, on their chest. What made them pale though was the fact that the person who had talked, a woman, was holding someone hostage, a Crobat on her shoulder sticking his fangs slightly in the waitress' neck, drawing blood. "Good, good. We would like to ask of everyone with a Pokémon to turn them over to us. If you'll be good you'll have them back when this is all over. Otherwise…" The Crobat sank his fangs a little more in the girl's neck, earning a whimper.

"Y-You're bluffing! Pokémon can't hurt humans! It doesn't happen!" One person in the car said, earning a chuckle from the woman.

"Really? Uhuhuh… Crobat." The Pokémon suddenly let go of the girl's neck and flew in front of the man who had talked. "Air Cutter."

"Croooo!"

"Waaaargh!" The Pokémon flapped his wing once, strongly, and a sharp arc of air was unleashed and cut the man across the chest, drawing blood and injuring him, stunning everyone in the room, including Drake. Never, ever, he had seen or ever heard of a Pokémon injuring a human to that extent. Some of the women shrieked in fear.

"So, anyone else wants to try his luck?" Seeing no further objections, the other rockets began to pass between people and searching them for Pokéball. Drake narrowed his eyes as the woman turned her eyes to him, and then approached him slowly. "Ahhh, Drake-sama. Just who we were looking for. I would like to hold onto your Pokémon personally, please."

"… You're from Team Rocket, right? I can tell as much…" Drake slowly got out his Pokéballs and handed them to the woman who accepted them and stuffed them in the pocket hanging from the back of her belt. "What do you want?"

"Ah, but it's so simple. We're hijacking this train and taking people hostage. You can work from there." The woman replied smugly, before turning to the grunts. "Tell the others to search the rest of the train for people who didn't come to lunch and other employees."

--

"You did it on purpose! I just know it!"

"I repeat, I did not."

"Why me?" James was whining curled in a ball on the floor while Erika demonstrated that it was pretty easy to make her lose her princess-like composure, even if bad luck helped a lot. When the train suddenly braked, he, who was standing had suddenly lost his footing. Sabrina had tried to help him, but standing up suddenly had just made him fall on the ground with her and get a handful of her cleavage. "Sigh… When am I ever going to get a break… Uh?"

Suddenly, James felt something tremble inside his pocket. His Pokénav. He dove for it with one hand and opened it. He didn't recognize the caller, though. "Who could it be?" He opened the call and a voice began to resound from the thing.

"_To all the Rockets __in the range, we've successfully stopped and hijacked the Magnet Train."_ James blanked while the two girls shifted their focus from each other to the voice that had just resounded. _"We have taken hostage most of the train's passengers, since they were gathered in the restaurant car. We're now sweeping the rest of the train for any remaining people. Everyone who has assigned on guard duty please reach your assigned positions."_

"WHAT THE HELL?!" James shouted in disbelief. He just couldn't take a break, could he. He turned around and he found the two girls staring at him weirdly.

"… James, did you…" Erika said, a bit of nervousness in her voice.

"No! I didn't know anything about this! I…"

"Alright. This is the last car to check." The three occupants of the room's eyes widened when they heard a new voice coming from the hallway muttering those words. James began to tremble and looked from side to side, at the hallway and then at the two girls behind him. He had to decide, and fast. "Hmm… Maybe this car…"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The two grunts felt the weight of James' decision when Erika's bag was slammed into their faces, slamming them in the wall opposite of the car's door and knocking them unconscious, under the confused stares of the two girls. James then immediately jumped on them and began looking for something. "Where is it, where is it… Ah!" James picked up from one of the grunts' belt a Pokénav, and opened it on the shared channel that had contacted his own one too. "Ehm… All clear from the last car. Over."

"_Good work. Stay there on guard for a while, though. Someone could have hidden himself really well. Over."_ James closed the call and let out a big breath that he didn't know he was holding. He then turned his head to the two girls behind him, who were staring at him confused but at the same time relieved. He groaned.

"What? I told you, I didn't know about any of this. In case you didn't know, I lost my status as a premium member some time ago. They don't care about my whereabouts, figures inviting me to these kind of things…" James scratched the back of his head, not really proud of spilling those kind of beans. "This really stings…"

"They hijacked the train and took everyone hostage… But why?" James shook his head and got back up on his feet, hearing Sabrina's words.

"I don't know, but I know our usual modus operandi about these things. So, first thing, they will take everyone's Pokémon. If they really took everyone but us hostages…"

"We're the only people with a Pokémon on board?" Erika said, starting to become a little nervous. She had never found herself in a situation similar to that one.

"Yeah…" James scratched his head. He had heard the nervousness in Erika's voice. Sabrina was as glacial as ever, instead. The situation was bad. First, if they found that there were two gym leaders on board, they would put them under heavy surveillance and get their Pokémon for sure. Second, if they found out that he was on board and that he had just knocked out two grunts, basically betraying the organization... _So, I have to get the three of us out of this mess while at the same time not making them discover my identity. We're in the last car of the train, there are tens of rockets all 'armed' with Pokémon and we have just 6 of them. Did I miss anything?_ "Alright… Listen up, you two."

"Y-Yes." Erika replied with some nervousness, while Sabrina just nodded. James' tone was dead serious, and his expression wasn't much different, even if some sweat was still evident.

"I'm the expert on rockets, here. They don't steal common Pokémon if there isn't a big order or something like that. They took hostages, and that's a first… Well, usually one takes hostages to ask for something in exchange, right? Don't know what, though… Now." James took out two Pokéballs and handed one to Sabrina and one to Erika. "I have four Pokémon, you have one each. That makes six Pokémon total, so, two each. Erika, I'm giving you my Carnivine. Sabrina, I'm giving you my Mr Mime. It's your kind of Pokémon, so you should be able to use them better than me. I'll keep Chimecho and Growlithe. Also, Sabrina, could you like… Talk in our minds and keep us connected without talking? That would be useful."

"What should we do? We can't just… I mean, there are the other people as well…" James groaned.

"For now, we should just try to stay hidden while they contact whoever they want to blackmail. We can't just walk on the roof and get to the front car or something…"

"Did they check this car already?" A voice coming from afar, but still coming nearer and nearer. James went as stiff as a statue, and held back a curse. Erika chuckled sadly at his misfortune.

"… The roof it is, then."

--

"Still haven't tracked our 'Pokémon-seer', Lorelei?"

"Nope… He's very good at hiding his traces. Darn…" Lorelei frowned. It really sucked not being able to get the information she wanted. Mostly because it had never happened before, to her. "Nothing yet… And I've been searching for days!"

"Eheheh… Come on, I'm sure you will find something. Otherwise, there are sure other interesting news to appear, right?" Lance said, crossing his arms over his chest. It sounded strange to him as well that this man could hide his tracks so well, like he had been nothing but on a run since ever, but he had faith in his colleague.

"Meh. The most interesting thing is this communication of the Team Rocket I intercepted about their hijacking of the Magnet Train in the middle of the Viridian mountain range…" Lorelei said, leaning her right cheek on her right open palm, using her elbow to support the weight of her head. Lance's eyes widened.

"… Lorelei… Think about what you just said…" Lance said to her younger colleague, who huffed and then did as told, cue to her eyes widening as well.

"Oh."

"Yep."

"L-Lance! There are problems! Team Rocket…"

"Already ahead of you, Bruno."

--

"Good. We've diffused the message. Now we have to wait for the League to contact us." The woman said, her words followed by a chuckle right after. Drake and the other passengers hadn't been tied up but they were kept under strict surveillance. The Elite Four in particular was under the control of that particular woman, who looked like the chief of the group.

"… What do you want with the League?" Drake asked, earning yet another chuckle from the woman, who in turn sat on a chair right in front of him.

"Oh, well. I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you, since later we will ask for it in person to the authorities, hn?" The woman said, grabbing a hold of a bottle of wine and a glass she had picked up in the restaurant car earlier. "You see, we need the Flame of Moltres."

"The… Flame of Moltres?" Drake said, a bit unsure about just what kind of object it could be.

"It's not unusual you wouldn't know what it is, since it's a very peculiar object. It's an ever-burning flame put onto a torch that is used once every year to open up the Kanto Pokémon League Tournament. The legend says that it's part of the legendary Moltres' flaming wings, and we recently found out that it is true." The woman said, pouring herself some wine while Drake took in each and every word said to him.

"… Couldn't you have just stolen it?" He said. The woman shook her head gracefully.

"Sadly not. The Flame of Moltres is one of the most well protected objects in Kanto, other than the fact that is brought out in the open once an year, making its movements very difficult to track. We barely know where it is hidden, figures how to get inside it." The woman took a sip of the wine and 'hmm'-ed in satisfaction to the taste. "Well, aren't you going to ask what we need the thing for?"

"… I have a feeling that you wouldn't tell me." Drake said, ending the conversation, but deep inside he was getting really worried. They were going to ask for something of that value, so it wasn't impossible that the authorities would have an inner-fight about the course of action to take, but what they didn't know was how ruthless these men were. _And most importantly… They don't know about… Was it just that single Pokémon or do all these men's Pokémon have the ability to injure and kill humans?_

"M-Ma'am! There's trouble!" A grunt suddenly ran in, opening the door in a hurry. "Two of our men have been found knocked out cold in the last car of the train!"

"… By what?" The woman said, getting back on her feet.

"C-Conventional means. They had the imprint of a handbag on their face." The grunt replied.

"No Pokémon attacks, hn? Then, they shouldn't be much of a problem. Just signal the other grunts to be on alert. We don't want anyone playing hero, right?"

--

"I-It's cold…"

"Your sundress is pretty, Erika, but it's not exactly a good choice of clothing when being this high up." James wasn't faring well himself, even if his clothes were a bit heavier, but after all no one had told him or the two girls that they would have to sneak-crawl on the top of a train that had suddenly stopped on top of the highest place of the whole Kanto-Jotho region. Sabrina was silently glad that she had decided to change her hair-style, since having long unbound hair with that strong wind would have proved problematic. James looked around. The Rockets outside were all pretty far from the train, fortunately, and they were all facing in the opposite direction. "Now, the thing is… What do we do, now? We've been up here for minutes…"

"Right… I think that eventually someone could notice three people trying to 'sneak' on the roof of a train…" Erika replied sarcastically, while trying to not make the wind lift the gown of her sundress and reveal her choice of underwear to the world.

"Well, the problem is that if we get discovered they will take away our Pokémon, and we'll be reduced to simple hostages…" _And on top of that, they will discover my identity…_ "Sabrina, I doubt you could mind control the entire train, right?"

"No, I'm sorry. I could try, but I'm positive that the effort requested would likely be too much for me. In the worse case, I could faint." Sabrina replied, and James scratched his right cheek.

"I knew it couldn't be that simple… Uh, we're on the top of the restaurant car, right?" Sneaking by sneaking they had managed to reach unnoticed the restaurant car, where supposedly, the most people should be kept hostage. James made sign with his hand to stop. "Sabrina, can you… Like, scan the surroundings?"

"Yes." Sabrina nodded and then closed her eyes, focusing on the minds she could reach in the car right under her body. She could reach tens of minds, most frightened and scared for life, a single one more so than the others. Then other minds gave away feeling of power, superiority, some a little uneasiness. The former were probably the passengers, the latter the rockets. Then, she reached two more minds, strangely isolated from all the others. One was uneasy, but she could still feel calm, calculation, cold reasoning, while the other held nothing but malice and that same feeling of superiority, only a tenfold bigger. She decided to peer into those minds a bit further. "… A bit forward the leader of this group of Rockets is alone in a room with Drake, one of the Hoen's Elite Four."

"An Elite Four?!" James, incredibly, managed to shout silently. "And they took him out?! Is this leader that strong of a Pokémon trainer?"

"No. From what I can see, they persuaded him to hand over his Pokémon thanks to a hostage situation… Ah…" Sabrina suddenly stopped, showing to Erika for the first time her surprised expression. "This is… Unusual."

"What? What is it?" Erika said, curious more than James.

"It seems that this woman is in posses of a Pokémon that… Seriously injured one of the passengers. A Crobat. It drew blood. A lot of blood." That made both of Sabrina's companions widen their eyes and mouths in surprise and disbelief.

"… This is…" James had seen lots of Pokémon, in his travels that had come dangerously close to doing something like that, but no one had ever really done it. Just what did it mean? He swallowed, suddenly feeling a lot more frightened than before.

"It seems that the woman has just managed to contact the authorities." That broke James out of his fear-induced reverie.

"… I think we should hear." Erika suggested. James nodded and then the two suddenly felt a cold chill in the back of their necks, sign that Sabrina was doing something to their minds.

"_Ahhh, finally. I was starting to believe you didn't care about the tens of civilians we took hostage. Did I mention one is already badly injured?"_ James raised an eyebrow, not as much to the mind-hearing thing, but for the fact that the voice sounded familiar.

--

"_You will not get away with this, Rocket."_

"Oh, please. What will you do? Arrest a couple of low-ranking members who were trying to break into a Pokémon center? There's a reason if no one has ever took a real course of action against Team Rocket, and you know it." The woman replied, laughing maliciously right after. "We'll leave the jokes for later. With who am I talking? I have no interest in dealing with some random Officer Jenny."

"_Do not worry about that. You're talking with the highest ranking representative of the Pokémon League of Kanto-Jotho."_ The male voice replied from the speaker, earning an amused face from the rocket.

"Ohhh, I have the honour of talking with the champion himself, sir Lance. Very good." The woman said, while Drake kept on listening with attention. "Well, let's get down to business. We have hostage a lot of civilians, I don't know the exact number and I do not care, and an important guest. A colleague of yours, we could say. Sir Drake from the Hoen's Elite Four, and we will not hesitate in let's say… Killing ten every hour if you do not meet our requests, leaving the honoured guest for last?"

"… _What do you want?"_

"Nothing much. Just the Flame of Moltres to be delivered to us right here on the train. You have two hours to give us the approval of the president of the League, then we start cutting the numbers of the hostages. Good day." The woman chirped before closing the call, Drake's inquisitive gaze on her the whole time. The rocket noticed it and turned around with that same malicious smile. "So? What do you think?"

"… Then, what happens? After you get the Flame of Moltres, how do you think of getting away?" The woman laughed.

"Perceptive, as I would expect from an Elite Four… Well, let's just say that we have a plan. No use in telling you, right?"

--

"… She's serious." Lance declared a few seconds after the call was closed, the Elite Four and a few officers of the police right behind him. "She will do what she promised."

"…" Lorelei swallowed and then turned to one of the police officers. "Contact the president immediately!"

--

"… I can't shake off the feeling that I've heard that voice somewhere else." James said under his breath, before turning to his two companions. Erika was visibly shaken, and even Sabrina… "Sabrina, what's wrong?"

"…" Erika had noticed that Sabrina's face was showing more emotion that everyone had ever seen coming from her, even if she didn't know that exactly. She just knew that Sabrina had visibly paled. She looked terrified. "… They… When the woman talked about their escape plan… I had… I saw her thoughts, and…"

"Sabrina, calm down." James approached the psychic girl and held out one of his hands to hold one of hers, even if it was gloved. Sabrina stiffened at this at first, but then visibly quieted down. "Please… Tell us what you saw."

"… The giant Snorlax on the tracks isn't the only thing they prepared. They have been preparing something else…" Sabrina began to explain, taking in a lot of breath. "There's a part of the tracks that runs on a bridge."

"Over the 'Viridian Ravine', right? We would have reached it in two more hours, right?" Erika said. Sabrina nodded.

"They… Placed explosives on the tracks." James and Erika blanked as well, and the man's hold on Sabrina's hand stiffened. "They plan to sabotage the brakes… And then let the train go. There's a big descent in the tracks right after this point, and most of the path to the ravine will be similar. The train would gain enough speed to reach the bridge in thirty minutes. The front car will it the explosives on the tracks and detonate the others spread all over the bridge, destroying it…"

"… We will all fall to our deaths. The authorities will be too occupied trying to save us to run after them. They will get away with it… With everything." Erika put a hand to her mouth, instinctively, her eyes incredibly wide. James did so too, but because he felt like puking.

"Damnitdamnitdamnitdamnit…" James cursed his bad luck. He had finally got away from his parents and was safely on his way back to his friends, but now he was going to die? _Think, think, think! There's gotta be a way to get out of this situation!_

Unknown to them and the rest of the people around, a Fearow flying up high above them was carrying a camera, transmitting images of the tragedy to the nearest tv station.

--

"Damn it, this is some serious shit." The owner of the snack bar used a discussible language, but in that situation it seemed fitting. News of the hijacking had been spread immediately over every existent communication system, in every region.

"For real. Damn those rocket bast… Ehm…" Ash stopped talking half-sentence, remembering that Jessie and Meowth were in the same room. Jessie shrugged.

"I don't mind, and I have to agree with you on this, twerp." Meowth seemed to have a similar opinion.

"Those poor people…" Dawn said, holding her hands joined in front of her mouth. The news alone were terrible, but they still couldn't get any footage, of course.

"Hey! It seems they managed to get a camera on the place!" Brock said, gluing everyone's stares to the television as the speaker kept on talking.

"… _to a Pokémon that we have managed to get unnoticed on the place__, we finally have footage of the event."_ The television from the inside of the television studio began to show something else, alias, a rocky valley with just a train stopped on some tracks because of a sleeping Snorlax, and some black dots all around it. The only sound in the background was the strong wind. _"As you can see, the train has been stopped dead in its tracks by dropping a Snorlax on them. The enormous Pokémon stops the train from advancing, and the rockets have boarded it at that moment, taking hostage the whole… One moment, please…"_ Suddenly the camera zoomed on the train a bit, on the roof, taking in three different coloured dots that kept on becoming bigger and more definitely shaped. _"It seems… Yes, it seems that there are three people who still haven't fallen prisoner to Team Rocket! The camera is currently zooming in on these three people…"_

"… G-Guys…" Dawn's eyes were the first to widen as the camera reached the max of its zoom.

"Oh. My. God." Jessie said, spelling out every single word slowly, to weight them. The camera had zoomed in on two girls, one with black and the other one with dark violet hair, and a guy with light violet hair. Even if its head and face were covered by a hat and its shade, the people in the room recognized him immediately. "JAMES?!"

--

"… So, basically, if we don't do something, and when I say 'we' I mean the three of us, we're all gonna die, right?" Erika stated, while James was holding his head with both his hands, trying to force an idea to come out. The nature loving princess sighed. "All right. The most pressing problems is the hostages and of course, the sheer numbers of the rockets. There's just too many of them."

"I identified a sack where the Pokéballs of all the passengers who are also trainers/breeders are. We could retrieve it, but, there will be the problem of getting them back to their owners." Sabrina said, continuing Erika's reasoning.

"Yeah… We would need something that could distract most of the rockets long enough for us to get the Pokéballs back to the owners. They're not tied or anything, so, if we managed to do that, we could stand a chance. We could fight back." Erika continued, then began to think and look around, trying to find something that they could use. "… Damn it. All I can think of is that damn Snorlax sleeping in front of the train…"

"…" Suddenly, James let go of his head, surprise and then a smile coming to his lips. "Erika, you're a genius."

"Eh?" The gym leader got surprised by James' sudden words.

"Sabrina, can you… Give someone bad dreams? And then wake them up?" Sabrina blinked but then nodded. _There's only something scarier than a mad Snorlax… A hungry, mad Snorlax._

--

What a fantastic dream, he was having. A dream where he was happily jumping with grace on his tiptoes through a valley filled with every kind of food. How could a Pokémon who weighted several tons jump gracefully on his tiptoes is incredible, but he was doing it.

He jumped from a kind of food to the other. Fruits, poffins, Pokémon food… And then, there it was. The biggest, tastiest, most fabulous looking poffin he had ever seen, as big as him. Even he would have problems finishing it. There he went, jumping towards it… And then it disappeared.

He fell to the ground, biting into mud and dirt instead of a soft poffin. He looked around… And then he saw them. Bad men. Bad men wearing black with a red 'R' on their chests. Stealing his huge poffin, laughing at him. Sadness soon left place to anger. He let out a mighty battle-cry.

--

"SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX!"

Everyone in the range of hearing the shout suddenly jumped on their seats, even the ones who perpetrated the huge Pokémon's rude awakening. Every Rocket who could stuck their heads out of the car… Big error. The Snorlax saw them and suddenly charged.

"B-BOSS! THE SNORLAX IS AWAKE… AND HE'S CHARGING THE TRAIN!"

"W-What?!" The woman stuck her head back in the car and the opened the door to the restaurant. "Everyone! Get out and stop him!" All the rockets but two of them obeyed and got out of the car. The woman then repeated the command on her intercom. Drake looked perplexed. He was sure they had taken their precautions as to not make the Snorlax wake up. What could have happened?

--

"Alright… Now!"

"Ack!" Sabrina seemed to have already reached a good level of mastery with her whip, since she got one of the rocket around the throat and squeezed so hard to make him faint with one stroke in a few seconds. The second thug got two feet to the face with a certain added momentum thanks to his swing, courtesy of James.

"Yes!" He silently said, gathering the Pokéballs stored in a sack of cloth while Sabrina helped Erika inside the car as well. James picked him up and nodded to the two girls, while Erika unleashed her Bellossom and whispered something to the small grass type.

The Pokémon nodded and then focused, starting to emit spores than slowly moved under the door that connected their car to the restaurant car. After a few seconds two loud 'thuds' could be heard from the other side of the door. Sabrina opened it in a flash, a finger to her lips to silence the surprised hostages. James dragged in the sack behind her and the hostages began to get up. "Just pick them up, go outside and get the Pokémons out. You can find your own then. We gotta turn this situation around!"

"But…" A girl, a waitress tried to object, still a bit afraid, it seemed.

"If they get what they want, they're gonna use us as a distraction to run away and kill us all." A lots of gasps, and a further 'Shhh!', this time from Erika. James continued. There was no time for hesitating, this time. "So… You want to die? Or you want to go out there and fight like the Pokémon trainers you are? Even if you're not gonna fight, just go out there."

"…" The sack of cloth was emptied in five minutes.

--

"Anf… Anf… Finally!" It had took a lot of effort and every single Rocket to get out at least a Pokémon, but they had finally took down that rampaging Snorlax. "That damn thing… Just what the hell happened?"

"Together!" The rockets, still winded from trying to dodge a Snorlax rolling all over the place, turned around just to be met with the sight of all the hostages back in possessions of their Pokéballs and unleashing fresh, undamaged Pokémon over them.

"… Who said this was gonna be an easy job?"

"Chimecho, come out!" James unleashed one of his Pokémon as well, and Sabrina and Erika mimicked them, getting out his Carnivine and his Mr Mime. They had a battle royal ready for them.

--

"_Something! Something's happened! It seems that the three still free passengers of the train have managed to do something! The rockets have been attacked by the same Snorlax they have used to stop the train, and now th__e hostages have all got outside with their Pokémon in tow, starting a huge Pokémon battle royal! It's incredible!"_ The occupants of the bar couldn't believe their own eyes. Had a bigger Pokémon battle ever taken place? Ash remembered that time on the cruiser ship that then sank. It involved Team Rocket that time as well.

"Damn, now he's really gone and done it…" Jessie said, palming her face and shaking her head.

"Seems like it. Damn, never knew James had dese kind of brains…" Meowth commented, while Ash and Brock were trying to break Dawn out of fangirl-mode. Fortunately it was still in the first stage: hearts in her eyes.

"_A last minute adjournment! __We've just received information on the identities of the three individuals! The two young women are respectively Gym Leader Sabrina from Saffron City and Gym Leader Erika from Celadon City! The young man is… A trainer whose personal information have been asked to be classified, unfortunately. Maybe he's the member of some special crime-fighting task force?!"_

"Oh, god. This can't be good…" Jessie commented.

--

"I can't believe this! He's the… The man!"

"The one you've been trying to investigate for the last few days without results?" Commented Bruno, earning a nod from Lance and Lorelei.

"Yes… It really seems that he is not a normal trainer, after all. The question is, why is he getting out only now?" The woman said, adjusting her glasses while staring at the screen, the camera zooming in onto said subject who was guiding his Pokémon into battle.

"Well… Maybe it was an accident. Maybe he doesn't want to stand out." Koga stated, earning everyone's attention. "He's been an active trainer for years but he has never registered. I have a hunch that he did recently because he was forced to. Even now, look at his battle… He chose a Chimecho, a Pokémon best suited for healing and support, without damage-dealing moves… He's trying to stay anonymous."

"… So, he either doesn't like fame… Or he has something to hide. Some kind of… Dark past?"

--

"… I can't believe this." The woman had stayed inside the train along with Drake, observing how all of her subordinates had rushed right into a trap. The worse of all that? She had been the one to send them into it, and on top of that, how did she miss someone run into the room right behind the door of the room she had been inside? No, not even that. The very worse thing was the perpetrator of that action. "I can't believe it… That dolt…"

"…" Drake had watched with silent amusement and a bit of satisfaction what had perpetrated in those last minutes, and even a bit of regret, since he couldn't do the same. His Pokémon were still in the hands of his captor. "Seems like your plans are going down to hell, woman."

"… For now." The woman put a hand into her back pocket and pulled out a Pokéball. "Seems like they really want to force my hand. You may want to hold onto something, sir." The woman threw her Pokéball out of the window, unleashing her Pokémon. Drake immediately recognized it. Not many Pokémon had four arms, after all. "Machamp."

"Machaaaaamp!" In the mess of the huge battle royal no one had noticed the appearance of yet another Pokémon, unfortunately. Suddenly the fighting type crouched down and then jumped high in the air while pushing himself up with his hands at the same time, raising dust and wind in his raising.

"Earthquake." The fight type then descended to the ground, clenching his muscles to punch the ground at the same time. All hell broke loose. James had already seen and been subjected to an earthquake attack, but in his memories that one would always be fresh, clear, never forgotten, because it was the first time that an earthquake attack had injured him so much to the point of making him spitting blood as a square piece of earth impacted his back with violence.

All around him, the scene repeated itself, and it repeated itself also on the television screens all over the world. The attack of the Machamp hit every person and Pokémon it could, knocking most out cold. The train barely managed to stay on its tracks thanks to its magnetic nature, and the tracks barely managed to stay on the ground after the attack was over. James was among one of the people fortunate enough to stay conscious, and Chimecho whose levitation shielded him from the attack immediately began to put to good use his Heal Bell. "Ugh… What… The hell…" He looked around. Most Pokémon, except for the flying ones had been knocked out, while all the humans around had been injured or put unconscious. He could see some of them sporting blood from fresh cuts. Fortunately, he could also see that Sabrina had put to good use her telekinetic powers to fly herself and Sabrina out of harm's way, but the same couldn't be said of his Carnivine and Mister Mime.

"Good try, but I guess I forgot to tell you about my Machamp…" James' eyes widened. He now was sure not that the voice sounded familiar, but that he knew it. He turned around, his mouth becoming agape in surprise. "Oh… Well, maybe you knew about it, 'Master James'."

"… What… Are you doing here?" James muttered, getting back a bit unsteadily on his feet. Chimecho's Heal Bell hadn't healed all his injuries. "Jill…"

"Sorry, was a fake name." The woman said, getting out of the train and landing gracefully on her feet, moving a hand through her black hair. "My real name is Chess, and as you can see, I'm a special executive of Team Rocket. Sorry, I guess we forgot to send to your team the last 300 memos, hn?"

"…" James slowly opened his mouth to say something, then swallowed. "You… You were a rocket all along? Then you…"

"I played the part of the poor shy maid really well, hn? One of my best interpretations ever, if I say so myself…" The woman said, chuckling right after. "I got myself hired at your vacation home because I knew your parents were going to be there. We were planning on kidnapping one of them for a ransom, but of course you had to come along and send everything to hell, right? Like everything from a few years to this part…"

"… You tricked me…" James cleaned his lips from blood with the right sleeve of his jacket.

"Yes, I did." 'Jill' alias Chess replied. "And now, if you would be so kind to just lay down and wait till the authorities bring me what I need. The same goes for your two Gym Leader friends. I don't think the groaning/unconscious bunch behind you would bear another round of Earthquake from my Machamp."

"… This…" James gritted his teeth and then looked around, recognizing that the attack had knocked out also every Rocket around. "Even your own men… And, what's this? How could… How can a Pokémon really hurt someone?"

"Machaaaaaaamp!" The fighting type let out a mighty battle-cry as the woman patted it on the left shoulder.

"Let's just say that my Machamp is special. Now, just be quiet and sit while my Machamp puts everyone back into the restaurant car, alright?" Chess finished with a sing-song voice that made James angry, other than really worried while Machamp obeyed and picked up the first three people to put back onto the train, backhanding a Pidgey who had tried to defend its owner.

--

"Oh my… W-What the hell did just happen in there?! They were winning!" Ash almost risked to break the tv-screen because of the vehemence with which he was shaking it.

"All those… All those people…" Dawn was on the verge of tears after seeing those few seconds of horror.

"What happened? Pokémon… I mean, a Pokémon's attack is never that powerful when used against something other than another Pokémon. How could have that Machamp… Done that?" Brock was dwelling on the most evident fact that had come out of that scene, while Jessie was staring very worried at the screen, the camera now glued to the impotent and raging form of a violet-haired young man.

--

"Sir Lance, sir… It seems that the passengers…"

"I know. We've been watching." Lance said, turning his attention away from the television and to the person who had come to the president office to bring them the dire news. Then Lance's eyes turned back to the president of the Pokémon league. "Mr Goodshow, sir… What should we do?"

"Do you even have to ask, Lance?" The old man shook his head, to dismiss any doubt that Lance could have about the course of action that he would choose. "The flame of Moltres is one of the oldest relics in possession of this league, but its value doesn't even add up to a single human life."

"… Sir…"

"The object in question is already on its way here." The man said, his eyes still closed in thought. "Once it arrives, I'd like you yourself to bring it to the Viridian Range. It's not that far from the Indigo Plateu, and your dragon type Pokémon are the fastest method of transportation we have, at the moment."

--

"Hmmm… The two hours are almost up. Should I let you choose who to kill?"

"… Just shut up…" James retorted, angry and disgusted just at the thought and what he knew was behind the door to his left. Chess had made him, Erika and Sabrina 'accommodate' into the same car as Drake and her and hand over their Pokéballs while Machamp had amassed every single man and rocket into the restaurant car like they were sack of potatoes, one over the other. The conscious ones had adjusted them the best they could with their injuries, but it still was unsightly, at the very least. "… Couldn't you have made your Machamp put them in more cars? They're not cattle, and many are severely injured."

"Sorry, but the fact that I knocked out all my men makes it a bit difficult for my Pokémon to guard them if they're in more than one car, you know, but if you want my Machamp can always kill some right now to accommodate the others." James paled even more and held his head low, earning a chuckle from Jill. "That's what I thought…"

"… You…" Erika had done nothing but glare at the fellow black haired woman ever since they had sat into the car. Sabrina was surprisingly calm, so much that she was starting to wonder if there was something able to really upset the Saffron City Gym Leader.

"No foul language, princess. It wouldn't suit your character, I think." Chess said, when suddenly the train's intercom began to ring. "Hello, here's Team Rocket."

"_We've got the flame of Moltres."_

"Good, good. So, I can expect the delivery in a short time, right?" Chess said with a loving smile to no one in particular.

"_In a few minutes. The one doing the delivery will be the Champion, Lance."_

"So many vips all for me? I'm honoured. Well, I'll see you in a while." Chess closed the call, the speaker having echoed the message in the whole car. "So… I think it will all be over soon."

"… You mean we will all be dead, soon." That comment from James surprised Chess, maybe for the first time since he was on the train. Drake was the only one not knowing what he referred to, but he didn't seem too surprised because he already had a hunch that the woman really wasn't planning on letting anyone leave that place alive but herself and her men, and maybe not even them, now.

"You even managed to discover how I want to escape, hn? I guess those rumours about Sabrina having real psychic powers aren't just rumours…" Chess said, her words first a whisper but then getting louder by the second. Then, she smiled. "Eh… You gave me a lot of trouble, James… I really didn't expect that, but after all, you once were a prized member of Team Rocket…"

"… Yeah… I was." James admitted, with a bit of reluctance, feeling the attention of the whole room on him.

"Then, what happened? After going after that kid's Pikachu, all these years, you have never ever managed to do anything relevant again. Not only you failed to steal an electric rat, but every other try to steal a Pokémon ended in disaster. You and your friends became the laughing stock of the organization, you know?" Chess continued, leaning her chin over her right hand, and she could easily see the young man gritting his teeth in anger. She was sure that he already knew that, but hearing those things told to your face sucks.

"… So what? Want to demoralize me before I plummet to my death?" James said, shaking his head.

"Not really… Since in the past few days you've proven me wrong time and time again." The violet haired man raised his head slowly, staring at 'Jill' strangely. "You've beaten two of the most powerful Pokémon trainers in the region of Kanto and almost singlehandedly stopped this operation, all of which using weak Pokémon with the exception of your Growlithe, but your head did most of the work. Now I can understand why you were once known as the best Pokémon thief in the organization."

"… Your point?" James continued, not understanding just what she was getting to. Humiliating him, then complimenting him, all before she killed them. It didn't make sense to him.

"… Come with me. Machamp, come inside and guard the others." Chess said while opening the door. The Pokémon obeyed and walked inside while Chess walked outside with James, closing the door behind them. They walked outside of the train because passing through the restaurant car, filled with people would have proven problematic. Chess made James climb back inside once they were on the end of the train, after the two first class cars, right on the first one with the commands of the train. "Alright. Didn't want your companions to overhear our conversation."

"Just what the hell is going on inside your head? I don't think you want to get romantic with me all of a sudden or something." James said sarcastically. Chess just chuckled.

"Well, I am going to let you in onto something big and then make you an offer." That confused James even more. "You see, the organization has grown a lot from the days when you were in your 'prime'. We no longer just steal Pokémon and not just for the sake of selling them to the black market."

"… I noticed that. I didn't go around stealing things like the flame of Moltres… Well, actually, while travelling I think I tried to steal it once." James said, scratching the back of his head in thought.

"We know. At the Indigo League Tournament a couple of years ago. The point is, the object is needed for something that it's exclusive to the organization. Something big, a really big project, and for such a big project we need the best men we can find." James stared at Chess strangely, but then his eyes widened in realization. "The organization trained the most promising ones in the past few months, including myself. Now we're 'getting back' the ones that have been detained for a reason or another… You've not been detained but I think you qualify as a missing operative."

"… You want me back into Team Rocket? Ehm, I mean… You want me back into the organization's real business?" Lapsus linguae. He, Jessie and Meowth had done nothing useful for the organization for so long that he sometimes forgot that he was still a member.

"Precisely. I've been sending daily reports of your… Exploits. To say that the boss was surprised would be an euphemism. He would accept my 'nomination' for sure. Getting into this project would count as a huge promotion, basically. Other than the raise, you would get many other 'benefits', you know. Stronger Pokémon, for a starter…" Then James got even more surprised when the girl slowly leaned her fingers on his chest, pushing him slightly against the train's controls. "And who knows, if you manage to get an high enough rank… Getting 'romantic' with me may not be just a wet dream anymore…"

"…" James uneasily fell back onto the controls, and then looked around himself. "Ehm… I suppose that it would save me from the 'splatter yourself with the train' thing, right?"

"Indeed. All I have to do is sabotage the brakes and then get this thing moving to the fastest velocity possible. Such a waste, don't you think? They could make the trip between Goldenrod and Saffron in a few hours and they decide to go slow for the sake of sight-seeing." Chess replied. James looked around some more and then returned his attention to the black haired girl in front of him.

"Does this 'big project' have anything to do with how your Pokémon are able to actually injure humans?"

"It has everything to do with it." The girl said, still not getting away with her hands from his chest, not that he did notice when she put the second one as well.

"…" James thought about it for a while. _Sabrina, I really hope you can read my thoughts, now._ "… I'm not stupid, you know."

"You've proven the opposite. So?" Chess said, a malicious smile on her face.

"So, I get to live, a promotion and a way to get my self-esteem back to an acceptable level? Of course I accept."

_To be continued…_

_In the next chapter…_

James has betrayed his newest friends' trust this easily? What will happen now as Chess is about to get her hands on what she wants? What of Sabrina, Erika, Drake and all the other passengers? Stay tuned.


	7. Train Crisis II, End of the Arc

**Journey of a thousand James**

**Chapter7: Reckless Plan**

"He's here." After the deal, James had come back to the car and had been assigned with guarding the injured hostages while Chess kept on guarding Erika, Sabrina and Drake. James, wearing a guilty face, could feel Erika's glare on his back all the time. After he had come back with Chess basically all over him and she had communicated that he had decided to 'get back in shape', that was everything she had done, while Sabrina's gaze had not mutated in the least. And now, Chess' gaze had been met with the arrival of two people aboard a Dragonair. "Incredible. A Pokémon that big, landing this gracefully."

"…so… it's time?" James said from the other car, to which Chess replied with a nod.

"Yes, it is. Machamp." Chess released her Pokémon again, outside of the train, the ground trembling and his loud voice echoing in the air signalling the fact. Chess began to walk outside. "Bring them with us outside."

"A-Alright," James replied uneasily, as he turned to the other occupants of the room, Erika still glaring at him.

_I… I can't believe that I actually… for this… this jerk…_ The grass-type trainer swatted away James' hand and stood up on her own, walking out of the train. James sighed and then offered the same help to Sabrina, who just stared at his face, and the male trainer could swear that her facial features were showing worry.

"…James…" she said, and James groaned.

"Sabrina… There's no other way," he said, and almost forcefully made her stand up and hurrying her out of the room, before turning to Drake who had stood up from his seat and was staring at him. "…what is it?"

"Whatever you think of doing, I hope it's good, boy." Saying that, Drake walked past a stunned James, who quickly recovered before sighing deeply.

"I hope so too…"

--

"…there they are." Lance said, holding under his right arm a metallic case as he watched a woman along with a Machamp, the one who had talked to him on the phone, got out of the train followed by Erika, Sabrina, Drake and last, 'the man'. He knew the first three personally, the last one by name. They were getting closer and closer, while he focused his attention on the unconscious and injured people in the nearby car. His grip on the case tightened as he began to walk too, till the group met with him, the woman facing him with a smirk on her face.

"Hello. So, you're Lance. I must say, television hardly does you justice," the girl joked, Lance's attention on the people behind her, as James walked to her left side.

"Sir Drake. Erika, Sabrina," he said, acknowledging the three people's state, looking at Erika's and Sabrina's bruises and Drake's pretty unscathed state. He then turned to James, who lowered his hat over his head. "And… the mysterious man."

"Ehm… Hello?" James covered his head because he had just remembered a couple of occasions during which himself and this man had been in the same place, even if they probably had never met face to face. It didn't hurt to be on the safe side, though.

"The hostages?" Lance asked, after acknowledging that just like Koga had presumed, James had something to hide and thus he didn't want to be recognized or even seen clearly in face.

"They're well… well, they're not dead. What can I say, you saw what happened on tv, right?" That earned surprise from everyone but Chess, who snorted. "Oh, come on. You really think I wouldn't notice a Fearow with a camera hanging from his neck? It's not like a flying Pokémon decides to start flying in circle over the same area again and again just for the hell of it."

"…true." Lance suddenly put in front of him the metallic case he had been holding under his arm, which earned a soft expression of delight from Chess. "This is what you want."

"…open it," Chess basically ordered, and the Kanto Champion complied. He slowly opened the metallic case, and a bright light began to shine from its inside, and the girl's eyes widened in recognition. "Yes… This is it…" The object that shone with strong light was a torch that contained the strongest burning flame she had ever seen, all stuck under a transparent material. Not glass, since it would have melted in a few seconds of being near that flame. She slowly took the metal case in her hands, observing the object with glee. "The flame of Moltres."

"Yeah… it's beautiful…" James had to repress memories of his own dealings with his inner Moltres, and then swallowed. _Alright… three… two… one…_ His arms shot forward and snapped the metallic case from Chess's hands, much to the surprise of everyone but himself and Sabrina.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Chess was pretty vocal in her exclamation, but James just secured the now closed case under his arm. "Sabrina, now!"

"Y-Yes." The psychic girl hesitated, before she touched James' arm and the two disappeared in a flash of yellow light under the incredulous stares of the other members of the little group of people.

"W-What the…" Then, Chess remembered that Sabrina had psychic powers that did not limit themselves to reading minds. After all, if her father could do it… The Rocket commander began to look around bewildered, mimicked by the others. "Where the hell did they go?!"

--

"Alright. Great work, Sabrina. Now go back and then… you know what to do." James said, swallowing nervously and sweating, before starting to work on the control panel in front of him for a few seconds before noticing that Sabrina hadn't moved from her location. "What's wrong?"

"…This… you could…" the girl said, displaying one of the worst emotions ever: fear for someone else's safety or in this case, life. He groaned.

"I know, but if I don't do this, she will just kill all of those people on the train. There's no other way," James said as he pulled a lever and the engine started working again. "Now, please… Do what I asked of you, Sabrina."

"…" The psychic-type trainer bit her lower lip and then, reluctantly, she complied.

--

"What happened? Where…" Erika was voicing her worries before Sabrina reappeared and teleported away Drake and herself too, teleporting them near Lance's Dragonair. Erika took a few seconds to regain her bearings before realizing that she had no idea of what was going on. "Sabrina, what happened?! Where's James?!"

"Hey, 'Jill'!" The black haired woman turned to the source of the mocking voice, alias James sticking half of his body out of the Magnet Train's front car. She narrowed her eyes and was about to order her Machamp to snap the neck of one of the hostages, when she noticed that he was still holding the case under one arm and that the front car was starting to move along with the two first class cars. Her eyes widened.

_Don't tell me… but if he knew that we've already sabotaged the brakes, then…_ "Are you crazy or something?!" She began to run in the direction of the train, calling back her Machamp to his Pokéball in the meanwhile.

"You want the flame of Moltres?!" The cars began to move faster and faster as the engine began to speed up. "Come and get it!"

"You crazy…" Chess accelerated and barely managed to jump on the back end of the second first class car just as the train began to reach a high enough speed for her to lose her hat due to the wind. "Bastard!"

"…" Lance had done nothing during the whole exchange, fearing for the hostages' safety, but now that everything had transpired, his reaction was a simple sentence. "What did just happen?"

--

"What did just happen?"

"It seems dat… James took off with de train and de flame of Moltres… And made it so dat de girl with de Machamp followed him." Meowth scratched his head in thought. "Very brave, smart… Are we really sure dat it is James? OW!"

"That's not the problem, right now, idiot." The talking Pokémon had received a punch to the head, courtesy of Jessie. "The problem is, he just took off with the train, and the only other passenger is that girl who possesses that Machamp who we all saw what could do…" She then groaned. "Idiot… Why did he have to go and do something that reckless?"

"He probably saw no other way out, hn?" Brock was observing the television's screen with one arm over his chest and the other one's corresponding hand rubbed his chin in thought, while Ash was trying to reanimate an unconscious Dawn, who had fainted from an overload of fangirliness. The scene with the departing train was too much for her. "I just hope he survives this."

--

"…well, I've seriously gone and done it, now," James considered, as he observed the scenery going faster and faster in front of his eyes, as he gripped the train's command console hard. "Well… now comes the hardest part." He sighed and turned around, opening the door right behind him and finding himself in the large and luxurious first class car. On the other end of the car a similar scene happened, only the one who walked through the door was a black haired girl, now without her hat and with a pretty pissed off look on her face.

"…you…" she said through gritted teeth, staring with fury at the violet haired man in front of her. "Did you really think you could get away with this stunt?"

"…maybe, maybe not. The point was to get you away from the hostages and the other rockets. As for me… well, I didn't plan that far ahead, I guess?" James said, rubbing the back of his head. Chess groaned and palmed her face.

"You DO realize that you've basically condemned yourself to die, right?"

"It's not changed much from before. At least, this way… it's just me." James said, looking at the ground sadly. Chess was no longer angry, it seemed, but she kept on staring at him.

"…you thought I was bluffing? I was really offering you a place back into the real organization," Chess said, to which James replied by shaking his head.

"I know. But…" James bit his lip, searching for the courage to do what he had thought of doing. He breathed out. "Team Rocket has changed a lot from when I first joined… or maybe, I never really knew it… or maybe I just didn't care."

"…your point?" Chess said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"The point is, you've hurt a lot of people and where ready to kill just for the flame of Moltres, which is only a part of a bigger plan. If it's proportional to this…" James pointed out, raising his head, worry but also determination grasping his very soul. "The body count is going to sky-'rocket'. I don't want anything to do with something like that. A-And that's also why I won't give you the flame of Moltres."

"…intelligence, wisdom and bravery. Even if I think I could hear your legs' trembling a mile away." Chess said, looking at how James' legs were about to do the twist out of trembling. She sighed. "What a shame. I think that you could have really been the best partner ever…"

"Ehm… I'm sorry?"

"Don't be. Since that doesn't change that you've just basically handed me your resignation from Team Rocket." James flinched at that, but he really didn't have anything against that. It was more or less his intention. "Also, it's not like I can just go back without the flame of Moltres. So, as it seems like you're so prone on opposing me, I've decided that I'll kill you before you plummet to your death and then take the flame of Moltres."

"I-I won't let you," James said, throwing both his arms to his sides sharply. "You won't either kill me or take the flame!"

"You really think you can defeat me?" she said, chuckling. "No amount of intelligence will let you overcome the power of my Pokémon."

"Maybe… and yet, you're already at a disadvantage." Chess blinked at that while James picked four Pokéballs from his belt. "First, you have given me back my Pokémon, and you have only two. I have two times the Pokémon you have. Second, here you will not be able to use your Machamp."

"…I will not be able to… Ah." Chess' eyes widened when she realized that they were on a very fast moving train. If Machamp wrecked the car even a bit, they would all end up as splashes of red on the Viridian range. She narrowed her eyes. "…so what?" Her right hand went for her other Pokéball, which she opened, releasing her other Pokémon.

"Crobat!"

"My Crobat will be more than enough for dealing with you," she said, venom in her voice as she put the Pokéball back on her belt, her Pokémon flying around her in circle a couple of times before settling with hovering in front of her. "Any last words?"

"…a few. The first ones being…" James threw up in the air his four Pokéballs, that enlarged just as a gust of wind from an open window made his hat fly away and out of the train. "Let's go, guys!"

--

"He did what?!" Erika screamed in outrage after hearing of James' plan from Sabrina, while Drake and Lance shared an incredulous expression. Sabrina was just showing worry. "But why?! He knew that the train can't be stopped anymore! And he knew about the explosives! Why?!"

"It was… the only way to get her and her Pokémon away from the hostages." Sabrina replied, looking at the ground.

"…how much time till they reach the booby trapped bridge?" Lance asked, having been informed by Sabrina about Chess' plan for escaping beforehand.

"Right now… 27 minutes and 45 seconds," Sabrina replied, to which Lance replied with a nod before turning to Drake.

"Sir Drake, I assume that woman still has your Pokémon?"

"Sadly, yes," Drake replied with a nod.

"Then, we have two things to retrieve. As soon as help comes here for the injured, we will depart." Erika turned confused to the two dragon masters, and it didn't went unnoticed by the two Elite four. "Lady Erika, how much do you know about Dragon-type Pokémon?"

--

"Crobat! Air Cutter!"

"Mimic! Flamethrower!" The two attacks from one side met the single one from the other one and exploded in a flurry of embers and a strong wind gale that cut open lots of holes on the roof of the train. Both trainers shielded their eyes instinctively, but James reacted first. "Bulletseed!"

"Crobat! Dodge!" He barely managed to do so, dodging by a hair's breath the Grass Pokémon's attack. "Attack! Poison Fang!" The poison type's fang gleamed with a violet light and mouth open, it launched itself against the nearest target, alias Growlithe.

"Reflect!" Mr Mime obeyed, and projected a shield of psychic energy in the middle of the car which Crobat impacted head on, shattering it in pieces but the Pokémon staggered for enough time. "Growlithe!"

"Grooooooooow!" The fire type howled and let out a huge burst of fire that enveloped the flying Pokémon.

"Crobat! Wing Attack!" For the few seconds that Chess needed to issue her order. A single flap of the Pokémon's wing was enough to dissolve the cloak of fire that had engulfed him.

"Darn! I hoped it would last more!" James said, shielding his eyes again from the burst of small embers. _But… it's fine like this… at least, now I know that I've got a chance._ James swallowed and waited for Chess' next move.

"…darn." In the meanwhile, Chess was having maybe the opposite path of thought. She was at a disadvantage in that position too. Flying Pokémon's strong points are their speed and the fact that they can fly and as such, they can add a dimension of movement that other Pokémon cannot add to their style of fighting. _In such a cramped space like a train's car, I can't use Crobat well enough. If this becomes a battle of friction, he will sooner or later triumph. He has four Pokémon, among which he has a healing/support type like Chimecho. With his heal bell he can keep this battle going forever, unless I use attacks powerful enough to break through Mr Mime's barriers and take his Pokémon out in one blow… Air Cutter barely managed to do the trick, and I can't use that other attack unless… _ She gritted her teeth. _Damn it! I knew I should have waited for Crobat to undergo the full treatment too._ "Crobat! Haze!"

"Eh?" James' eyes widened as the flying Pokémon suddenly let out a cloud of dark smoke that quickly filled the room, obscuring his gaze and his Pokémon's one as well, he guessed. "Mr Mime! Mirror Shield!"

"Useless," Chess said before the cloud hid her from sight, even if it was already dissipating because of the train's opened windows. "Haze isn't an attack move. Its only purpose is to cure Pokémon of status like poison and paralysis. It's not something you can block since it has no harmful intent."

"… Not an attack…" _Then what purpose… Ah!_ Before James could raise his head, Crobat had already disappeared from sight, and once the haze had dissipated, the Pokémon was nowhere to be seen. The violet haired man shot his head in all directions, but he couldn't catch a glimpse of the poison type. "What… Where did he go?"

"Be patient, James…" Chess chuckled at James' predicament, before the man noticed a sudden change in her surroundings, coming from behind her back, precisely. A black light radiating from the car behind the one they were in, the second first class car. His eyes widened.

"Mr Mime! Re…" Too late. Before he could even finish his sentence or the psychic Pokémon could put a barrier, a black blur had devoured the distance between him and his target in an instant, and an explosion of black light filled the car for a few seconds and James felt something flying past him and he heard it slamming against the wall behind him. "…what…" He slowly turned his head behind him, and his skin tone became so white that he could have passed for a ghost. "MR MIME!"

In front of him was now hovering Crobat, his whole being covered in blood. Blood not his own, but of James' Pokémon, who had slid to the floor after impacting the wall behind him, a large gash evident on his chest and many minor ones all over the front of his body. James was about to hurry to his side. "Hmph. I knew that without the full treatment, that attack wouldn't be at full power."

When he remembered that he still was in the middle of the fight. He gritted his teeth. "Chimecho! Focus your Healing Bell move on Mr Mime!" He then turned his eyes on Golbat and Chess again. "…that move… Fly?"

"Eheheh… nope." Chess said, chuckling as Crobat tried to lick the blood off his body. "That was the most powerful flying attack in existence: Sky Attack."

"Sky…" James had heard the attack being used before, he knew it. If his memory didn't fail him, that kid Paul's Murkrow knew the attack… but it wasn't nearly that powerful. "…how did…"

"It was pretty powerful, right?" Chess smirked evilly. "I suspect that that was the move's full power… That is, if a normal Pokémon used it."

"A normal Pokémon…" _And she mentioned a treatment…_ James gripped his hands into fists, in rage. "Just what are you doing to Pokémon?! They severely injure people, they…"

"They become incredibly powerful… granted, if they do survive the treatment." At that James' eyes widened, and Chess right out laughed. "Remind me to show you our dump. It's filled with dead Pokémon, by now."

"…you…"

"That is, if you surrender and survive. So… I will ask it once again." Chess' expression regained its seriousness. "Step aside and let me retrieve the flame."

"…never!" James roared, in defiance. Chess frowned.

"Then, you will die! Crobat! S…"

"The hell you are! Carnivine!" At James' command, Carnivine's vines snapped forward and grabbed Crobat. "Now that I know how you resolved the matter of the mobility, you'll think I'll let your Pokémon get far away?!"

"Hmph. So, I see it. But…" The Crobat just opened his mouth and bit hard into Carnivine's vines, earning a yelp from the grass type. "You seem to have forgotten about my Crobat's poison fangs…"

"Carnivine! Pull him in!"

"Carn!" The grass type, still wincing from the pain and the venom entering his body, complied with his trainer's wishes and started to pull in the flying type, much to Chess' shock, since the whole purpose of the attacks from before was to keep her Pokémon away from him and his other Pokémon. Once he got into range, she would order him to use a wide area attack and take James out of the game… then, she noticed that James had grabbed something with both hands.

"What…!" Her mouth fell agape as she saw him raise both his arms along with the grasped object, far above his head. _The bastard… He wouldn't!_ "S-Stop!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" That was probably the first time something like that ever happened in a few hundred years: a human fighting a Pokémon with his own strength… mostly because that always ended badly for a human. That was a lucky day for James, though; he had in front of him a Crobat, a Pokémon hardly suited for heavy physical fighting. He was wielding a wrench he had found in a toolbox in the front car. He had had the element of surprise.

He hit the Crobat hard on top of his head, making him slam into the floor and bouncing off it, blood starting to ooze from the injury… And yet, he saw that the wrench had dented. "Growlithe! Flamethrower!"

"Grooooooooooooooow!" Chess' eyes widened and she dove on the left behind one of the passengers' seat, getting out of the way of the cloud of fire that enveloped her flying type. When she raised her head again, she saw her Crobat burned but still on his feet… and James charging at it, the wrench to his side, this time. He hit the flying type and sent him smashing through one of the car's windows, much to Chess' shock.

"…you…" She slowly got up from the floor and glared at her opponent fiercely, who just smiled mischievously himself, for once.

"What? You thought you were the only one who was able to think out of the box?" James dropped the bent wrench to the ground. "Since your Pokémon seriously harm humans, I guess it's okay for me to do something like that… I don't think your Crobat will be able to catch up with this train anytime soon." He then glared at her. "You will have to pass on my dead body before I let you reduce another one of my Pokémon like you did with Mr Mime."

"…as you wish." Chess gritted her teeth and pulled out the other one of the her Pokéballs, much to James' blanking. "You asked for it."

"Eh?! W-Wait!" James knew what other Pokémon she had at her disposal. "I-If you unleash your Machamp here…"

"The train will derail. So what? You didn't consider two things, here, buddy…" She clicked the small white button and the Pokéball enlarged, much to the ex-Rocket's growing shock. "First, the case containing the flame is made out of an hyperresistant material. Or did you think that anything could not catch fire by staying near a flame of the legendary Moltres? Second, I can ask my Pokémon to protect me with his body should the train go out of its tracks, or just jump us both away to safety. So…" She threw it. "I'll just wreck your Pokémon, you, this train, and take the flame from its remains!"

_This is really, really bad!_

--

"Please, miss Erika… You've got to…"

"I'm not going anywhere!" Other officers of the league and members of the Pokémon police had arrived on the place where the train had stopped, and had started helping people on flying Pokémon and machines to take them to Goldenrod City, but there was a certain Gym Leader who was adamant in not leaving. "Not until I'm sure James is alright!"

"…Erika…" Sabrina put a hand on the black haired trainer's left shoulder, catching his attention. "…we can't do anything here. Let's go with them."

"But…"

"I'm sure mister Lance and sir Drake will be able to help him… other than that, we can do nothing but wait." Erika calmed down, but her gaze immediately became downcast.

"…the most excruciating task." Erika was really worried because of many things. That woman's Pokémon weren't normal. James was facing her alone. But the most important fact was that what she wanted wasn't with him on the train. He had no leverage at all to safe his life.

--

"…cough!" He slowly got up from the ground as he choked on his own blood, and everything that he could see around him was pain and suffering. The suffering of his friends… his Pokémon. He had been somewhat lucky, since Chess' Machamp had just backhanded him into one of the train's walls. His Pokémon hadn't been so lucky. The fighting type had been merciless, pummelling them one after another. First Carnivine, then Growlithe… even Chimecho. In his outburst, the roof of the car had been practically destroyed. Seats had been thrown around. The only one still standing, all that was left between him and more suffering was a pretty beaten up fire type. "G-Growlithe…"

"G-Growl…" He could see him shaking, his leg muscles maybe damaged by the strength of the blow. In front of him, stood the towering mass of Machamp and behind him, a woman with a cruel smile on her face.

"Hmph. Indeed, your Growlithe is one of a kind… if it had evolved and with the treatment… yeah. You would have made a great agent," Chess said, rubbing her chin with one hand, the corresponding elbow resting in the other. "Too bad that, now that you've pissed me off, the offer is no longer valid. Now…" The fighting type growled out his name, flexing all his muscles to intimidate Growlithe, who didn't even move. "Shall I inflict a bit more of pain on you and your Pokémon?"

"…I…" James held his side, thinking of having maybe a cracked rib or four. He slowly picked up a Pokéball… And pointed it at Growlithe. "Growlie… come back."

"G-Grow…?" The Pokémon whined and turned his head only to be returned to his Pokéball and then to James' belt. The trainer proceeded to do the same with his other Pokémon, leaving him completely defenceless.

"What? You want to take a wrench's shot at Machamp?" Chess laughed loudly in amusement. "Sorry, but my Machamp underwent the full treatment. He's on another league altogether than Crobat… well, a wrench wouldn't have hurt a normal Machamp, actually."

"…you win." Chess blinked at that, as James slowly walked to a side of the train, putting his back against the wall and slowly sliding down to sit on the floor. "…just go and take the flame. I'm… I admit defeat."

"…well, you aren't an idiot, then, after all." Chess called back her Machamp, since she couldn't walk comfortably with the huge Pokémon in the way, and started walking towards the front car's door.

"It was the first rule… I learned when I got into Team Rocket's theft division, you know? I guess I had forgotten it for a long time… stupid me…" James said, his gaze on the floor as Chess passed by him and opened the door.

"Oh? They teach you when it's time to give up?"

"Not at all… princess." Chess blinked when he called her like that, and the mocking tone he had used was evident. She turned around to see him smiling, one eyes closed from the pain of his broken bones, holding a Pokéball and her belt-pocket. "The rule was: 'always plan everything thoroughly'."

"…when did you…"

"The flame of Moltres isn't here." Chess was shocked to say the least. "When I climbed in the train I dropped it out of a window of this car before starting the front car. Sorry… mission failed, Chess." James then let the back of his head fall against the wall and he looked outside. "Oh, look… the bridge." Indeed, half an hour was up. The train was rapidly approaching the booby trapped bridge.

"…you mean that you've climbed into this death-trap of a train, knowing perfectly that you had zero chances of defeating me and that the whole thing would likely result in your death one way or the other?" Chess slowly approached him as James tied her belt pocket to his own belt along with her Machamp's Pokéball. "You dared… you dare trick me?! All this trouble, and the Flame isn't even on this train?!"

"…yep." James replied, almost casually. No, definitely casually. That broke something in Chess' brain. The next thing he knew, she had thrown herself at him and was furiously punching him in the face. She raised him off the floor and kneed him in the gut. "Urk! Ack!" He spit blood, his injuries worsened by her fury. She then proceeded to slap him and punch him in the stomach. "Gh…" He fell to the ground on his knees, while Chess breathed heavily, hyperventilating, out of anger more than fatigue.

"You prick! You damn useless bastard! HOW DARE YOU TRICK ME! HOW DARE YOU!" She screamed as James breathed heavily, rasping, his hands holding his stomach for a moment before he had to use them to support his weight and stop himself from falling to the floor.

"…you know…" James fidgeted around with his hands for a while… Before grabbing the wrench from the floor and slamming it under Chess' jaw, sending the girl flying in the air and against an already damaged window, shards of glass flying everywhere. "You don't need a licence… to trick someone… Cough!" He coughed again, and then he looked up. "Heh… and who said that I thought I had no chances of survival, when I decided to board this train again?"

"…what are you…" That's when wind started to blow hard in the train while Chess slowly got up on her feet, blood coming out from cuts on her back and the big one on her chin, courtesy of James. She looked up and saw a very familiar and intimidating gaze… She understood.

"Young man!" Drake dropped from Dragonair's body and onto the floor just behind James, a rope attached to his and the Pokémon's waist, as Lance prompted his Pokémon to keep on following the train as it kept on moving.

"Hurry up!" Johto's future champion shouted as his gaze was fixed on the train and the bridge up ahead. "The bridge! We're almost there!"

"…when I heard that… you were having Lance deliver the flame… well, did you know that Dragonair is one of the planet's fastest Pokémon?" James smiled and Chess collapsed to the floor on her knees, not caring about the pieces of glass. Her gaze vacant as Drake tied himself to James and the violet haired man picked her up from the ground. "Come on. We need to get out of here."

"…" She didn't reply as the three started being lifted from the train's floor. Her mind was lost in a loop that told her just one simple thing. She had not been only tricked, she had been totally and completely defeated. He had defeated one of her Pokémon, he had stripped her of the other one, he had denied her her prize, he had made her take out all her subordinates, he had saved the lives of everyone on the train, she had made her bleed… she had failed on every. Single. Front.

That was when the train reached the bridge and exploded. That broke her out of his reverie as he realized they were hovering over the canyon as a cloud of fire filled the air under her. She acted like a robot, picking a particularly large piece of glass stuck in her arm and stabbing James in his right arm with it. "Aaaaaaaah!"

"You…" she whispered, and then she started stabbing him repeatedly. "YouyouyouyouYOUUUUUUUUUUU  
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

"Aahhh!"

"Young man! Drop her!" Drake shouted, but James instinctively or not, he didn't comply. Then she slashed the piece of glass behind her, slashing at him on the nose diagonally. On instinct… he opened his arms.

"!" The black haired woman lost her hat as she fell to her death towards the cloud of fire and the canyon below, under James' shocked gaze, and the grimacing gazes of Drake and Lance.

"…Jill…" He called her by the name she had met her by, observing the flames and vacant air for a few more seconds… Before the pain, the tiredness and the blood loss kicked in. He passed out in Drake's arms.

"…sir Drake…" Lance began to make movements to land on the ground to better secure the injured trainer and the fellow Elite Four on the back of his Dragonair.

"No worries, my friend…" The Elite Four checked with his eyes the pocket James had tied to his belt, and he recognized it as the one where the woman had put his Pokéball in. "…this young man has done a great deed, today."

"…I hope… it will be enough for him."

--

"…so, she failed." It seemed like the authorities weren't the only organizations with flying Pokémon used as long-range cameras, but Giovanni was probably the only one who liked to spy on his employees or as he called it, 'check on his investments'.

"…Chess…" The almost pitiful voice belonged to one of the higher ranking members of the organization, a blonde haired woman who had followed everything with tension. She had been the one to suggest assigning Chess to the mission's command, and she had been the one to scream when she saw her plummet to her death. Shock and sadness were quickly leaving space to anger, though. "I'm going to kill him… I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!"

"Domino, settle down," Giovanni ordered, but the blonde woman wouldn't have any of that.

"SETTLE DOWN?! THAT BASTARD KILLED MY SISTER! HE…"

"I said, settle down!" The boss of Team Rocket practically roared, and Domino couldn't help but indeed calm down. Giovanni rarely got angry, but when he did, it was bet to just shut up and do as he said. "In case you were watching something else, your sister killed herself out of spite and anger for her failure. Stabbing the arms of the person keeping you from falling to your death isn't exactly the most intelligent course of action."

"Heh. I'd say. Getting so worked up over a fluke of an idiot…" a silver haired young woman chuckled at her own words, furthering Domino's ire. Then a booming round of laughter filled the room, startling the girl and the blond haired one sitting beside her. "W-W-What's so funny?!"

"A fluke! You really do crack me up, Oakley!" The booming voice of Vicious resounded in the enclosed environment. "That man, basically alone thwarted our plans! He saved every single passenger on the train, defeated Chess and one of our special Pokémon, got back the ones we had stolen, kept us from the flame of Moltres and even managed to get way with his life in the process! You call that a fluke?!"

"I guess… That goes to show that he was indeed a legend in the theft department, once," Annie said absentmindedly, tending to her nails. Oakley just 'Tsk'-ed.

"So says the girl who had three posters of her 'sempaaiiiiiiiiiiii' in her room before he became the laughing stock of the organization."

"OAKLEY!"

"Ahahahah! Indeed, he seems to have returned to his prime! I wonder what happened to make him go back to his origins!" Vicious laughed some more while Giovanni's eyes were fixed on the figure of the violet haired man strapped to the back of a flying Dragonair.

"… It makes me curious too, Vicious," the boss stroked his Persian's head a bit and then turned off the giant scream displaying the images. "Well, for now, let's focus on more important affairs. Vicious…"

"Way ahead of you, boss. Boomer and Slasher are already en route."

--

"Dawn is alright. She just regained consciousness."

"…good." The whole event had been broadcasted, along with Lance and Drake's return to the spot of the train-jacking for the brief second that Lance needed to instruct Lorelei of the elite four about what to do with the flame of Moltres. That had led to a close up shot of James' bloodied and bruised form. Dawn promptly fainted, especially when they closed in on the slash across his nose. Meowth and Jessie had taken it a tad better, but they were pretty distressed too. Ash noticed this easily. "…that idiot… he just had to go and play hero, did he?"

"…yeah." The young trainer sat at the same table as the purple-haired young woman, sighing heavily as he felt the tension that hanged in the air. It could be cut with a knife. "Come on, I'm sure he will be alright. Goldenrod city has the best hospital in Jotho. They said they were taking everyone there."

"…I know, but that's not what worries me." Jessie replied, her hands crossed under her chin.

"You worry about… Team Rocket?" Jessie nodded.

"James has taken direct action against the organization, and he did one hell of a job. He turned their own plan against themselves, if only making that Snorlax wild was any indication." Jessie sighed and put her forehead on the table in front of her. "The organization isn't one to take revenge, but it's clear that James is now a threat to them."

"A threat? Why?" The young trainer raised an eyebrow at that comment.

"…you know what is it that James loves more than anything else in the world? His Pokémon." Jessie crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back into her seat. "He's had so few joys in his life… and so few friends. He has always treated his Pokémon as best as he could, and in return they all love him dearly, and the feeling is mutual."

"…so…"

"So… if even one of James' Pokémon got really injured… worse than the Pokémon of those other people who got smashed by that Machamp with that Earthquake attack…"

"What? He will want revenge?" Jessie shook her head.

"Not exactly… He's not that kind of guy… but I can see him going out of his way to stop Team Rocket's other initiatives from now on, if he chances upon them."

--

_Three days later_

"…ahh…" The light filtering through the curtains hit him like a bulldozer, hurting his still closed eyes and worsening the headache he felt. He fluttered his eyes open, opening and closing them a few times till his vision cleared. He felt the headache getting lighter. Then, he focused on what else he felt.

First thing, he was bandaged. There was a set of bandages wrapped tight around his torso, and he could feel another one sticking to his face, across his nose. There were other ones wrapped around his arms and legs too.

Second thing, there was an IV stuck in his arm. That made him uncomfortable, since he wasn't very good with needles.

Third thing, he guessed that he was in a hospital bed… but since when did hospitals have medieval-like rooms? It looked like a castle, in there… no, it was a castle.

"Ah, you woke up." That was when he noticed that he wasn't alone in the room. He shifted his eyes and he noticed the figure of a pinkish purple haired woman dressed as a doctor holding a notepad in her hands standing on the left side of his bed. "I was about to check your injuries."

"Where… where am I?" James asked, his attention focused on his strange surroundings as the woman began to undo the bandages on his legs and arms.

"I'm Dr Anna, and this is my clinic, a few kilometres from Goldenrod City. It seems like they had their hands full with the other patients, and some of them got re-routed here as a result." The woman chuckled as James groaned, remembering that he, Jessie and Meowth had been there already as well. That time they had tried to steal food, though, not Pokémon, and they had ended up lost in the castle's dungeons. "Well… since all your injuries healed nicely…"

The woman moved a hand to his face and removed the band-aid from his nose, and she traced a line with her index finger that went all across it from above his left eyebrow to his right cheek. "Except for this one. I'm sorry, but it will leave a scar."

"…can I…" She handed him a mirror before he could even ask for it. He held it above his head, and he could see that the line she had traced was the extent of his scar. He rolled his eyes. "Great. Just give me a gunblade and I'm ready to go tell people to go talk to a wall…"

"What?"

"Nothing…" He handed her back the mirror and let his head rest again as everything seemed to come back to him. The train, the fight, the rescue… Jill falling to her death. "…stupid girl… ah!" Then, he immediately remembered something else. His Pokémon were in really bad shape the last time he saw them. He got in a sitting position on his bed so fast that Anna dropped her notepad to the ground.

"Ah! W-What is it?" She said, stuttering.

"My Pokémon! Where are my Pokémon?! Ahhh!" he shouted, but it was a bad idea, judging from the sharp pain coming from his ribs.

"Please, calm down! Your injuries have almost healed, but you should take it easy on your ribs for a while!" The doctor gently leaned her hands on his shoulder and made him lean his head back on the cushion. James complied, panting for the pain and the exertion of the gesture.

"…where are my Pokémon?" He asked more softly, focusing on regaining his breath.

"They are at the Pokémon center back in Goldenrod City." She replied but James didn't relax at all. Anna noticed this and she lowered her gaze. "…your Growlithe has already recovered, but… the other ones…"

"…are they…"

"No." Anna immediately cut him off before he could even suggest something like that. "But their injuries are more severe. It's not a matter a simple night in a healing machine can solve."

"…I… I see…" Anna immediately noticed that his voice was trembling, and the action of covering his face with one hand was very enlightening.

"…I was watching the news too… You did something great. You saved a lot of people and Pokémon." She stared at how his lower lip trembled and he bit on it, trying to stop the trembling. "You should be proud of what you did… I'm sure your Pokémon are as well."

"…I got them hurt." His voice was even more trembling than before, and his voice was almost a whine now. "They're my friends… and I got them so hurt…"

"It was their choice. You don't have to blame yourself for it… you weren't the one who hurt them." The whimper and the tear falling down his left cheek were a signal that he had reached his limit. Anna pulled him close to her and softly hugged him to her, and he slowly hugger her back, tightly. "Let it all out…"

"I… I couldn't… I couldn't protect them!" He shouted, not caring about the pain in his ribs anymore, thinking about his friends' shapes, bleeding, hurt, beaten in the car of that train. He cried, not caring about wetting the woman's clothes. He just wanted to break down. Let it all out.

--

"Where's… James' room?" Erika bit her lower lip, cursing herself for not knowing James' last name. Then, she realized that they didn't know either, so he was probably registered as James as well under the clinic's reception.

It was interesting to see how Dr Anna had managed to make her clinic grow that much in so little time. Her method of using Pokémon to cure patients was original and very liked, especially by children. If at first it was just her and her assistant Keiko, now a lot more people were working there, and a lot more Pokémon.

Sabrina silently waited sitting on a nearby chair, her hands joined on top of her tights. Her mother would recognize her expression of worry, but to others she was just being 'normal' as usual.

"James? Ah, yes. Actually, he's being released right now."

"Really?!" Erika's voice rose of a couple of octaves, and that was when a door on the right opened. James was being helped to the entrance by Anna and a crutch, donning a new series of clothes, nothing like the private eye clothes that had been given to him by Eiji.

He was wearing black baggy pants with lots of pockets, a short-sleeved t-shirt of matching colour. At feet he wore red coloured boots, which matched the colour of the sleeveless survival vest he wore over the t-shirt and the hat which he wore. The outfit was completed by fingerless black gloves and a belt with a golden clip, from which hung a rope… which James quickly removed and handed to a nurse. He then turned to Erika who was busy staring. He shrugged his shoulders. "Seems like a Pokémon Ranger from Sinnoh forgot a change of clothes here. Good for me, I guess."

"Ehm… right." Erika had almost been caught staring maybe a bit more than usual, because of how fitting the black t-shirt was on James' physique. It seemed that years of working to make money for the next scheme, digging tunnels and building robots and such had helped to keep him in shape. "So… how do you feel?"

"…all in one piece… but not satisfied." The man replied, and then Erika sighed.

"Alright… important things first." The slap was strong enough to resound for a good half a minute in the hall of the hospital. "…never, ever make me worry like that again."

"…you…" James slowly moved his head to the left again, instinctively moving a hand to his now stinging left cheek. "I'm sorry, but I mean… I didn't know you cared."

"You didn't know…!" Erika gasped, and then shook her head, placing a hand on her forehead. "I can't believe anyone can be this dense…" She muttered under her breath, and made a mental note that the amount of effort she would have to put into that thing would have to be doubled. She sighed. "Nevermind. Yes, I do care. So, try to not do anything that reckless ever again… at least not alone."

"…alright." A sad smile surfaced on his face, and then noticed that Sabrina was in the room as well. It was astounding how silent that girl could be. "What about my other things?" Erika held up a sack, and James nodded in acknowledgment. "Alright… well…" James finally got out of Anna's grasp, and he bowed his head at her. Both Erika and Sabrina didn't fail to notice the blush appearing on his face. "Thanks… for comforting me, doctor."

"Ah…" It was the woman's turn to blush heavily. "It was… my pleasure, really…"

"Heh… sorry if I was a bit too rough, but…"

"It's alright. You were upset… it doesn't hurt anymore at all…"

"Still… I could have been more gentle."

"As I said, it's okay. Don't worry about it… uh?" James and Anna suddenly stopped talking when they noticed that the entire room's attention was on them, most staring at them with wide eyes and open mouths. An old man on a wheelchair was cheering James on from the end of the corridor. James coughed in his fist.

"Ehm… right. Let's go, girls. Goodbye, doctor." He hurried out of the door even while using his crutch, Erika right on his tail after recovering from the shock.

"J-James! What was that all about?! James!" The doctor sighed, realizing just how her words could have been easily misunderstood, and she could already hear Keiko teasing her about the whole matter. Then, she noticed someone had walked in front of her. Sabrina. "W-What is it?"

"How did you do it? Persuade him, I mean." Anna blushed a bit more.

"Well… I-I just hugged him to my chest… that's all." Sabrina stared at her for a few more seconds before turning tail and running after Erika and James.

--

"I swear, it was nothing, Erika! More importantly, how did you get here? On foot?"

"I gave them a hike, young man." James blinked and immediately recognized the voice that was talking to him. He raised his head from the ground, posture that he was using to cover his blush and found himself staring at sir Drake of the Hoen Elite Four. "I am happy to see you've had a speedy recovery."

"Sir Drake…" He then noticed that the ride they had used to get there must have been the elite trainer's Salamence, which was currently sitting on the ground behind him, standing proud in all his glory. "Are your Pokémon well?"

"Thanks to you, James… to you and your own Pokémon's sacrifice." Drake seemed to know about his Pokémon's status too. That only made James more and more nervous, and more anxious of getting to Goldenrod City. "I understand that it's not the best moment… But I'd like to talk with you about the situation. Things have come afoot."

"…yes, of course."

--

"…wow. There's quite a sight from up there…"

"I believe this is higher than the department store in Celadon City…" Erika commented, noticing how the sight was very different too. While in Celadon she could almost see the very essence of the nature the city was immersed in, in Goldenrod… everything was so technologic, modern. The radio tower immediately caught her attention.

"Not too high for your Salamence, though, sir Drake."

"You can drop the honorific… James." Drake replied and immediately took a sip from the can of soda he had got from the vending machine. "After you saved my life, the least you can do is call me by name."

"Ehm… thanks. Then, if I may inquire…" James thought that, whatever they were going to talk about, they were going to talk about it in a secluded place, not on the rooftop of a department store. Especially since it seemed that everyone else's attention was on their table. "I mean… why talk here? I mean, everyone knows who you are…"

"Actually… everyone knows who you are, James." The Elite Four member put much emphasis on the 'you'.

"Eh?" Drake didn't reply, instead he dove one of his hands inside of his long coat and handed James a newspaper. "A… newspaper?"

"It's the one from two days ago." The other occupants of the table observed as James looked at the newspaper's front page and proceeded to jump out of his seat and almost rip it in half as he gasped loudly. "'Ex-Rocket saves 300 lives'. The articles tell in detail everything you've done apart what happened after you left with the train, but the outcome is pretty clear."

"T-T-T-T-T-THIS…!" He was staring at a close up of his unconscious face, the scar still fresh, hair messed up… All in all, a bishounen pose of unconscious victory after an epic battle.

"We kept your current whereabouts a secret, and that's also why we shipped you off to miss Anna's clinic, instead of Goldenrod's hospital." Drake settled down his can of soda and smiled. "The point is, you're now a hero, boy. Be proud."

"…thanks for keeping my whereabouts a secret." James was sure that they were thinking that it was because of Team Rocket, but it was more about his parents. He had to get away as soon as possible from Goldenrod nonetheless.

"Of course. Now… what I wanted to talk to you about." Drake pulled out another newspaper and handed it to James. The young man took it and he almost blanked.

"L-Lorelei of the Elite Four… hospitalized?"

"It happened on the same day of the attack." Drake explained, grimly. "They sent two other people after her. Both with Pokémon of the same kind as that girl's Machamp. Ruthless, powerful… able to harm humans to a great extent. We found her in the middle of a hell of ice and blood. She put up a fierce fight, but she lost in the end. She was heavily injured, and the flame of Moltres she had been transporting back was gone."

"…they… they defeated an Elite Four?"

"That's probably why they sent two people to attack her, but still… they defeated her. That makes things worse than before. If they have that kind of power…" Drake almost crushed the soda can in his grip. "That's why me and Lance have decided that it's time to take serious action against Team Rocket. We will soon have a summit. The Elite Four of every region will meet at the Indigo Plateau. We fear that Team Rocket's actions of this kind will not end here."

"…I-I see…"

"We would like you to attend it as well, James." That positively froze James on the spot, since there was no way in hell he could get what the Elite Four could possibly want with him. "You see, James… you're something that no one has ever managed to get a hold on. You're an ex-member of Team Rocket… a still living one, that is. That means that you have information on your ex-employers that could be crucial in the near future. The Machamp you got from that woman will be studied to understand just what they're doing to their Pokémon and how, but we will need information on the organization itself too."

"…I…" James thought about it, under the pressing gaze of the other three occupants of the table, the female ones especially, who had been silent the whole time. "…Drake… I'd like to do that. What they did to those people, to my Pokémon… it's worse than anything Team Rocket has ever done, but… it's not my decision only to make."

"Oh?" James raised his head again, deciding to satisfy Drake's curiosity.

"By siding with you, I'd be actively acting against Team Rocket. They are leaving me alone for now because I'm not doing anything else against them and they still managed to get to their goal, but… if I do this, there's no turning back. I'll become a target… along with my friends." He bit his lower lip, thinking of Jessie and Meowth. "In Team Rocket we often work in teams. The other two members of mine would be in danger too the moment I open my mouth… no, the moment I declare I have the intention to do so. Before doing anything, I have to talk with them."

"Then, by all means, let us hurry to their location. I…"

"No!" James used a loud tone of voice that startled everyone on the terrace. He blushed and bowed his head in embarrassment. "I mean… sadly, I can't even accept something as simple as a passage… from you. It would make me connected to you someway, and I can't allow that…" He coughed in his right hand and stared hard at Drake's own eyes. "I have to go and meet them… the old fashioned way. Normally."

"…well…" Drake smiled, as yet again the young man in front of him gave him proof of high intelligence. "The meeting will be held in little more of a month, so… will that be enough time?" James nodded fiercely. "Good. Then, just remember to be at Indigo Plateau by the date. You'll get it from newspapers, I guess. It will be hard keeping something like that a secret."

"T-Thanks!" James bowed deeply.

"So… When do we depart?" Then proceeded to blink when he heard Erika ask that question, a smile on her face. "What? You thought you could get free of me that easily?"

"…us." Sabrina added, and James turned in her direction this time.

"…there's no use in arguing about this, is there?" The girls shook their heads as one. James groaned. "Alright, alright… well, to answer your question…" His annoyed expression immediately disappeared, leaving space to sadness. "…I… I need to… check up on someone, first…" He was becoming sad again. Sabrina saw her chance.

She immediately grabbed his head and James found himself with a face full of cleavage, much to Erika's outrage and Drake's embarrassment. "…Sabrina… what the hell?"

"…why is there no sex?" She said casually. Erika gasped even more. Drake lowered his hat over his face. James groaned. It was going to be a long trip.

--

"Wow… Grandpa, it's… it's incredible! This city is so big!" The young child kept on moving from side to side, observing everything. Everything that was new to her. Everything she laid her eyes on, much to her grandfather's happiness.

"Azalea is my hometown, but I can't help but be impressed by this city's greatness every time I come here." The little girl grinned and then basically threw herself to her grandpa's, hugging the old man around his waist.

"Thanks for bringing me along too this time, grandpa!" The old man laughed and patted his granddaughter's head.

"It was time you came along. If you really want to inherit your grandfather's business, you need to start learning about more than just how to make Pokéball out of apricorns." The girl nodded with a loud 'Hun', and then began to look around as well.

"Grandpa, while you meet with that person, can I go take a look around?! Pleasepleaseplease?!" The old man rolled his eyes.

"Maisy… the city is big…" Then she put on the sad Jigglypuff eyes, and he sighed in defeat. "Alright. You can go check out the Pokémon Center, alright? But do not get out of there on your own."

"I won't! Thanks, grandpa!" That said, the girl hurried to her selected destination.

"She's growing up fast, but it's good that she isn't losing her cheerful spirit." Kurt began to walk towards his intended destination, a nearby establishment where the person who he had to meet was waiting for him… And indeed, he found him already waiting, sitting at a table. "Ahhh… it seems it was you who came this time, Steven."

"Kurt… it's always a pleasure." The silver haired young man dressed in a suit settled down the cup of coffee he had been drinking and welcomed his guest with a smile before getting on his feet to shake his hands. "How was the trip from Azalea Town?"

"Uneventful, apart a few wild Pokémon…" Kurt shook the younger man's hand back and sat down on the other side of the table. "Can't say I'm not happy about it… did you hear what happened with the Magnet Train?"

"Yes… and then the attack on miss Lorelei… really an awful thing. I've met her personally, and I would have never wished something like that on her." Steven said, taking another sip of his coffee. "But enough of that. We are here to talk about business, aren't we? I'll never regret the day I suggested to my father we made use of your experience and skills, Kurt."

"Eheheh, yes. That, and I have a little favour to ask of you, actually, Steven." That made the young man raise an eyebrow. "Before that, of course, let's go over those projects for new Pokéball you mentioned."

"Of course. You see, in the region of Sinnoh…"

--

"… Chimecho…"

"Groowl…" Growlie nuzzled James' side with his head, trying to cheer his owner up. As doctor Anna had said, the fire type had been the only who recovered in a short times. The others were going to need much more. Chimecho had been the one brutalized the most by Machamp's attacks. The little Pokémon was almost completely covered in bandages as he laid on his back in the inside of a glass cube.

"…how could I have let something like this happen to you three?" Erika and Sabrina had decided to wait outside the intensive care unit. All three of his Pokémon were in the same room. Carnivine other than injuries was suffering from a heavy case of poisoning. It seemed that whatever treatment that Crobat had undergone, it had powered the viciousness of his poison too, and yet he was the better off of the three.

Mister Mime had lost a lot of blood because of the multiple cuts caused by the flying type's Sky Attack, and some were too deep. He would need time to heal his muscles. All in all, they couldn't get out of there before a month.

And yet, something he didn't understand. He was crying by now, and asking for forgiveness, but Chimecho, like Mister Mime and Carnivine before him, just turned to him and smiled. They were happy to see him alive and safe, and that only furthered his ire. He was supposed to take care of them. He had betrayed their trust and got them hurt. Why were they that happy to see him?

"…and even worse… I'd really like to stay, wait for you to heal… I don't want to leave your side, but… I have no choice." He got up from his kneeled position, his head still low. "I can't… I can't let what happened to you happen to any other Pokémon… but I need to warn Jessie and Meowth, first. I need to go back to them… so…" James sniffled and rubbed away his tears. "I guess… I'll see you later. I-I'll tell Eiji to come and take you if you get better before I can come back, alright?" They just smiled and then drifted off to sleep. "So… until later, guys."

"Grooowl…" Growlithe was also sad, and stayed behind in the room for a while, as the other Pokémon weakly muttered one last sentence that the fire type understood clearly. His eyes became set and determined again, and he barked his approval and he swore: he would protect their master for all of them. He would never let him get hurt again. After one last bark, he ran after James, who was now in the hall giving the resident nurse Joy the details of Eiji and Motoko's contacts.

"Alright. When one of your Pokémon recovers I will call this number to check your availability. I assure you that your Pokémon are in good hands." The pink haired nurse smiled at him, and James nodded.

"I know they are." He bowed his head and then started to walk towards Erika and Sabrina, who knew better than to ask him about his Pokémon. It was better if they asked him about something else.

"So… what now, James?" Erika asked, and James just crossed his arms.

"Well… my plan is the same… and if you really wanna hang out with me, I guess it's yours as well." The violet haired man sweatdropped. "I'm going to Olivine city to catch a boat to Sinnoh."

"…then, we'll have to go north to Ecruteak City and from there then head west. It will take a week," Sabrina immediately gave out all the information the two of them needed, and James nodded.

"Yeah… also, I heard that Ecruteak City's Gym Leader uses Ghost Pokémon. You could ask him for some pointers in training your Haunter, Sabrina." Erika said, adding her two cents to the conversation. James made a mental note of that information and then nodded in acknowledgment.

"Then, onwards we go. To Ecruteak… oh!" That was when a brown haired girl rushed into him.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I wasn't looking… oh, no!" The girl had dropped something from her satchel, a Pokéball. James' eyes immediately got caught to it, noticing how it was pretty different from every other Pokéball he had ever seen, and yet it felt familiar.

The top instead of being red, was yellow, and there was an incision right above the big white button that it shared with the other. Two letters in the shape of a 'G' and a 'S'. He instinctively picked it up to hand it back to the little girl. "It's alright. And… I think you dropped this."

"Oh, thanks!" James smiled and handed the little girl the ball… that was when his right middle finger accidentally pushed the white button of the ball. A flash of white light filled the room and the familiar 'clack' of an opening Pokéball resounded in the air.

_To be continued…_

_In the next chapter…_

A chance meeting lands James with new acquaintances, a new Pokémon, a new story and new mysteries as these lead them to something long buried and forgotten… right under Goldenrod City! Stay tuned!


	8. Interlude I

**Journey of a thousand James**

**Chapter8: History of Pokémon**

"W-What the…!" He shouldn't have been that surprised. After all, Pokéballs are supposed to contain Pokémon. It was the fact that it had been so sudden and he had no intention of opening the Pokéball. Also, there was the shape of light that was forming in front of them. Pokémon are usually springy and on their feet when they get released from their Pokéball, while this one seemed to have materialized on the floor, unconscious. When the light cleared, James understood why.

The petite form of the Pokémon was full of bruises. Nothing like the ones of his own Pokémon, but it had taken quite a beating. James was immediately on one knee, on the ground. "What... What the hell happened to this Pokémon?"

"Sabrina, do you by any chance know what Pokémon is it?" Erika had a vague notion that it was a psychic type, but nothing beyond that.

"It's a Kirlia." The psychic gym leader replied, recognizing immediately a Pokémon out of her type of expertise, and indeed, she was bruised all over. James instinctively took the Pokèmon in his arms.

"Hey! What happened to... Uh?" Before he could finish, he noticed the positively shocked, plastered, 'wtf' look on the face of the small girl who had dropped the Pokéball. Eyes open wide, mouth open wide, flies flying in and out of it, paleness and hair towards the ceiling. "Ehm... What..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" She suddenly screamed, then run around one spot three times and ran out of there still screaming her lungs out, much to the shock of everyone in the Pokémon center.

James stared at the opened doors of the Pokémon center for a while longer, before shaking his head and gently lifting the wounded Kirlia from the ground, turning to a nurse Joy. "Miss Joy, could you please..."

"Of course! Right this way!" The nurse said and James followed her to another room, while Erika kneeled down and gathered the still open strange Pokéball.

"... I've never seen this kind of Pokéball before..."

-Breakline-

"And that's the last point."

"Good to know you're keeping up the good work." Kurt chuckled and then drank the last bit of iced tea he had left. "So... I guess I can tell you about that favour. You see, sometimes ago I had been given the task of analysing and trying to open..."

"GRANDPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The whole cafe jumped on their seats and some on the spot, but none worse than the object of the shout. Kurt turned around only to find his ballistic granddaughter waving her arms around, a bewildered look on her face. "GRANDPAGRANDPAGRANDPAGRANDPA! THEGSBALL!"

"W-What? What happened to the GS Ball?" Kurt was on his feet immediately, while Steven just observed the situation with interest.

"ITOPENED! SOMEONEOPENEDIT!"

"... What... Did..." In under three seconds, grandpa and granddaughter alike were out of the cafe, leaving a cloud of dust behind them and a blinking Steven finishing his own hot tea with one last sip.

"... Waitress? Check, please."

-Breakline-

"Will this Kirlia be alright?" James asked before the nurse Joy even started the healing machine.

"It's alright. The scanning shows that most of the bruises were superficial. The problem was that the poor thing is exhausted." The nurse clicked a button and a soft noise made itself hear along with a soft yellow light, and the Pokémon's features immediately relaxed. "She must have been in some big fight..."

"... I guess..." James scratched his underchin, his thought going to the girl who had dropped the ball containing the Kirlia in the first place.

"THERE! THE ONE WITH VIOLET HAIR!" The same one literally invading the Pokémon center along with her grandpa no matter the tentative of restraining from strangers, much to James' sweatdropping.

"Ehm... Hello... AAAAAAH!" James had been pushed against a wall by a bewildered old man, who grabbed him by his collar and slammed him against hard concrete.

"HOW?" He shouted. James shivered and was about to ask for clarifications. "HOW DID YOU OPEN IT?"

"Ehm..." James swallowed, a bit in fear of the seemingly mad old man. "I just... Touched it?"

"... You just touched it." Kurt repeated. James nodded. The old man stared at his face for a few seconds... Then his eyes rotated towards the back of his head and he fell to the ground, convulsing.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"HE FAINTED! CALL THE HOSPITAL!"

"James, did you... OH MY GOD! WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE?"

"... The little girl is in a catatonic state as well." Indeed. She was sporting a really creepy smile and muttering nonsense. The most sense Sabrina had heard coming out of her mouth in the arc of a minute was. 'It can't. Have. I. Hate. Love. Ice-ball.' That was when Steven walked in the Pokémon center.

"... I'm sure there's something really amusing in all of this. I just can't seem to understand what."

-Breakline-

"Tsk... It's going to take two weeks for my Scyther to recover..."

"What did you expect?" Boomer poured his partner a cup of coffee as they observed the Team's healing machine work on the bug type's injuries. Most had been caused by frostburns. "We were fighting an Elite four. Even with four special Pokémon, it was obvious we wouldn't get away with defeating her without heavy injuries."

"To be left to one Pokémon only..." The man shook his head and then removed his mask to drink the coffee. "I guess it's a good thing that we're working on speeding up the process, since if the leagues are really going to focus their attention on us, now, we're going to need a lot more special Pokémon."

"Duh." Boomer took off her own mask to drink her own cup of coffee. "There's also..."

"You mean James?" The woman nodded in reply. "Indeed. That he would suddenly become competent again, but against Team Rocket's interests... It's intriguing. Also because he seems to be even more competent than when he worked for the team."

"What? You mean that when he was stealing Pokémon he couldn't use his full potential?" Slasher shook his head.

"No. Don't forget that he was one of the team's top operatives for a long time." The man kept on staring at the black light healing yet another frostburn on his bug type's body. "The cases are three. First, he has been faking having lost his skills all this time, but that's highly improbable. Second, whatever had suddenly stumped him is now gone. Third..."

"... He found something that pushes him more than his duty to Team Rocket does any more?" Boomer intervened, and Slasher just nodded. He had a feeling that they would meet him soon enough.

-Breakline-

"... They will pay..." Lance gripped the rails of the bed strongly. He was sure Bruno would have made a dent into them, but to him, it was fine like that. No need for further people to get injured. Lorelei's comatose, prone form in the bed in front of him was enough. "They will pay for this too."

"... To add problems upon problems... We're going to have to search for yet another member for the Elite Four." Lance's head shot to Koga like a whip, his eyes wide and angry, but the old poison master would have none of that. "Use your head. The doctors say that the time of her recovery is unknown. For all we know, it could take months for her to wake up, figures getting back into shape, and very soon, the regions of Jotho and Kanto are going to need their full combat potential, and people to guide them. That's their Champion, and their Elite Four."

"... Still..." Lance lowered his head, but then felt Bruno's gaze on his back. He could imagine the sad eyes of his oldest friend. He shook his head. "... Right. We'll need to find two new members for the Elite Four."

"Ahh, how I longed to hear those words." The three men in the room turned around yet again in a flash, the most surprised being Koga, since it had never happened for someone to get near him without the ninja noticing it. Blaming it on age, the three took in the appearance of a young woman.

The first thing that jumped to the eyes was her waist-length silver hair, then her clothes. The sleeveless, strapped gold top with black linings left her stomach uncovered, and her slacks left uncovered half of her waist and everything of her legs from under the knee down to her feet, covered by golden shoes, no heels. All in all, either she usually lived in a very hot environment, or she was a huge tease. Bruno's blush said that he believed in the second option. Koga's attention instead was more focused on the Pokémon walking by her side. An Umbreon, and a really trained one.

"When I heard of Lorelei's situation I was filled with grief, of course, but... What can I say. Elite Four is such a cool title..." The woman put a finger to her lips, emitting a low chuckle right after. Lance just frowned.

"... Just who the hell are you? Who let you in?" The Dragon Master said growling, and the girl just kept on chuckling.

"My name is Karen, sweetheart... And I just might be your 'replacement'."

-Breakline-

"How are they?"

"They woke up, and they're asking for you." The nurse replied, and James swallowed. Just an hour before the old man had almost strangled him. He could only hope he had calmed down. He tiptoed into the room, shouldered by Sabrina and Erika, to find him sitting in his bed, smiling placidly, along with the little girl in a nearby bed.

"Ehm... Excuse me..." He said, only for the old man to turn to him.

"Ah. It's you. Come in, don't worry. I've calmed down." Kurt joked, and James relaxed somewhat. "I'm sorry for my earlier behaviour, but it was quite a shock to hear that you had opened the GS ball... That easily, too."

"This has to do with the favour you wanted to ask of me, Kurt?" That's when James noticed that there was someone else in the room. A man with dark silver hair, wearing a dark suit. That's when he heard Erika gasp behind him.

"E-Erika, what's wrong?"

"You... You're..." The young gym leader was staring at the man like he had just grown a second head. The man was surprised too, but he just dismissed it with a smile.

"And here I thought no one in Kanto knew me..." The man said, shaking his head.

"Erika, what is it? Who is this man?" James tried, really starting to worry, since Erika was visibly stunned.

"He... He's..." Erika swallowed and regained her bearings. She knew the man because unlike most of her colleagues she kept herself adjourned on the notorious trainers of other regions. "He's Steven Stone, son of the president of the Devon Corporation... And former champion of the Hoen Region."

"Former...!" James took a step back in surprise. A champion. He was in front of a champion, alias the strongest trainer in a region. "... Former?"

"I got tired with the position. It cut down on my travel habits, and I absolutely love travelling. That, and rare rocks." James just gaped even more. He had gotten 'tired' with the position. He hadn't been defeated, he had relinquished the position. "So, Kurt. What was so special with this Pokéball?"

"The fact that in two years I've never even managed to dent it, figures opening it." The oldest man in the room said with a groan. "I've been asked to study it as a favour from professor Oak, who received it from a certain professor Ivy..."

-Breakline-

"THAT NAMEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"BROCK, WHAT THE HELL?"

-Breakline-

"Both of who, as well, couldn't manage to open it or transmit it via a PC... The only thing I discovered is that it's really old, but... Previously, Pokéballs weren't this technological. It's a mystery. I don't even know the material from which it's made." Kurt crossed his arms over his chest, much to Erika's discomfort, since the old man had forgotten about his IV. "That's why I decided that I would ask the Devon corporation to examine it. Then, this young man came along and... He opened it... By... Touching it." Kurt groaned and brought two fingers to the bridge of his nose, much to James' nervousness.

"Ehm, you've got to excuse us. But, you must understand..." Maisy intervened, to ease James' nervousness. "All these years, and then, just like that... Ah! By the way, is it the morphine, or do I remember a Pokémon coming out of the GS Ball?"

"That's indeed right. But it's strange..." Erika put a finger to her chin, holding the other elbow with the free hand. "This... GS Ball is centuries old, you said, right? But the Pokémon was still alive."

"Indeed. Pokéballs put Pokémon on the inside of it in stasis so that they do not need nutrients but only for a certain amount of time. They need to get out to eat some real food before the effect runs out." Sabrina commented, and Kurt and Steven nodded, acknowledging the fact as true.

"To keep a Pokémon alive that long... It was indeed a special Pokéball... And it makes you wonder about the Pokémon contained in it." Steven mused his thoughts, and Kurt nodded again, this time in approval.

"Right... Well, just one thing to do, now." Kurt jumped out of his bed and ripped of his IV in the process, earning cringing from the whole room. "We go and ask the Pokémon."

"A-Ask? How are we going to ask a Pokémon something?" Erika said, and then noticed that Kurt was staring at Sabrina. She slapped her forehead.

"Just because I'm not a trainer, it doesn't mean I don't keep myself informed. Your friend Sabrina is quite the famous gym leader."

-Breakline-

"How is she? Is she better?" The nurse nodded as they observed the bed-ridden form of the Kirlia right in front of them.

"Yes. Physically, she's almost healed, but she seems to be having a nightmare. The poor thing..." James blinked, thinking about what the nurse just said and looking more closely at the Kirlia's face. She was sweating and every now and then her face would twitch or her head would turn from one side to another. Not quite trashing around, but they were the normal symptoms of a bad dream.

He had never thought about it, but indeed, Pokémon had dreams too. There was a move able to eat them, after all. Nightmares, though... "Sabrina, can you?"

"No. I will not invade her privacy." James winced at the harshness in Sabrina's voice, and her steely gaze as he turned to her was making him feel like a worm. "Dreams are one of the few truly private things someone possesses, be they good or bad."

"I'm sorry, it's just..." James bowed his head, apologetic, then turned his head towards the sleeping psychic type once again. "I'm wondering what's causing her to be in such unrest..."

"... I wish she could wake up soon." Erika said, gently leaning the back of her hand against the Kirlia's cheek, caressing it. She remembered when one of her Oddish had nightmares after a particularly vicious encounter with a Houndour. It hurt her inside.

"Kiiii... Ki...!" Suddenly, the small Pokémon jerked and Erika retracted her hand, instinctively.

"G-Grandpa, what's happening to her?" Maisy asked, visibly upset and moving closer to Kurt, who protectively put an arm around her.

"... Seems like the nightmare is coming to the most vivid part." Steven commented, wondering himself just what could a Pokémon be dreaming about of so terrible.

-Breakline-

"_...Inside! Hurry!" The Kirlia shook her head, even if just doing so caused her to wince in pain. "Don't be stubborn! You can't help anymore! You're only going to die if you stay by my side... Ah!" The human man crouched in front of her and shielded her from the debris lifted from yet another explosion. "Listen, Kirlia... I promise we will see each other again! No matter what it takes! And if we somewhat get separated, come back to the Sanctuary! Alright? Now, please get in the Holder!"_

"_Ki..." The Kirlia stared at the human for a bit more before nodding and slowly leaning her forehead against the GS Ball, too tired to keep on arguing... Never to get out again._

-Breakline-

"Kii... Ki..."

"Hey, her eyes are fluttering open! She's waking up!"

"Really?" The voices she heard were all unfamiliar to her, and the strong lights were hurting her eyes. She tried bringing up an arm to shield them, but found that she was too weak to do so. "Hello? Are you alright?"

The new voice instead was very familiar to her. She blinked and forced her eyes to adjust, till the shapes and colours were clear enough. "Ki..." Among the various heads in the room she looked for the one with the familiar voice, and she settled for the more familiar shape. "Kir...?"

"Uh? Is she staring at me?" She had guessed right. The familiar voice came from the familiar shape. Then, he leaned his face in and even with her still unfocused vision the lineaments of the face became clear enough for her. "Hello?"

"Ki..." James suddenly tensed when he saw tears starting to form in the Pokémon's eyes. "Kiiii!" And everyone jumped, except for Steven and Sabrina, when with a strength belittling her condition, the psychic Pokémon shot up form her bed and threw her short arms around James' neck.

"Eh-EH? WHAT?"

"Kiki! Kikiki!" James brought his hands to his throat to try and break the hold of the small Pokémon, since the unexpected situation was becoming a little too uncomfortable for him.

"J-James, she seems really... Affectionate?" Erika tried, a bit confused by the whole situation.

"But I don't know her! I've never had a Kirlia in my life! I don't..." Just as he tried prying the Pokémon's arms from his neck, he noticed that she was softly sobbing in his chest. He groaned and decided to take a gentler approach. "Hey... Kirlia... Kirlia." The Pokémon seemed to hear him and she slowly raised her head, and he noticed a small smile was coming to her lips. "Kirlia... Look at me closely."

"Ki?" The psychic-type seemed to understand and she focused her eyes on James' face. Little by little, her eyes got used to the lights and she managed to distinguish colour and shapes more easily by the second, till... "... K-Kirlia?"

"There. I'm not... I mean, did you mistake me for someone else?" James commented. The Pokémon stared at him for a few seconds more before jerking back and sitting silently on her bed, staring down at the mattress. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Nothing. This time, James' questions were met with silence. Steven had observed the whole exchange in silence like most of the occupants of the room, but he decided to voice his opinion. "She mistook you for someone else, indeed. Right, Sabrina?"

"... Yes." They all turned to her. "I didn't read her mind, but I could feel her emotions... I have an emphatic bond with psychic-types. First, there was sadness and happiness. Then, confusion... And finally, disappointment and now more confusion."

"... I don't think we will be able to talk to her, today." Erika stared at the crestfallen form of the Kirlia, who looked sad other than disappointed and confused, now. "Also, it's getting late. She still needs to recuperate."

"Hmm... Maisy, I think we will be staying in Goldenrod for a couple days more." Kurt commented, and Maisy acquiesced with a nod.

"Well... I guess we will be staying too. I mean..." James was still staring at the psychic-type, who for a split second moved her eyes in his direction before returning them to the bed. "I feel kinda responsible. I would at least want to see what becomes of this Pokémon."

"Hmm... I understand. Well, then, this evening you'll all be my guests." Steven declared before inviting them to walk out of the room. "After all, what's the point in being rich in a big city if I can't at least offer people dinner from time to time?"

As the badly assorted group walked out of the room, James lingered a bit more, turning one last time in Kirlia's direction. He stared for a few more seconds, before scratching his cheek instinctively and walking out of the room, the automated glass door closing silently behind him.

-Breakline-

"Damn, this is one fine restaurant." Kurt said as he finished his steak with one last chew and a swallow.

"And exclusive too. You either get a reservation a long time before or pay a lot of money." Steven brought a glass of wine to his mouth and drank a little sip. "Makes you think... The best panorama in the city can be seen by the top of a radio tower."

"They thought of the location when they built it, I suppose." Erika replied as she handed her Bellossom a biscuit which got eagerly devoured by the grass type. The sight really was something to behold. One could see the whole city from up there and a lot beyond. The forests and paths, and the clear night sky shining with a miriad of stars added a certain poetry to the whole scenario.

"... Who do you think that Kirlia mistook me for?" Leave it to James to bring back the evening mood to somber.

"Probably for her owner." Sabrina immediately replied, earning the attention of the whole table.

"What makes you say that, Sabrina?" Maisy asked, curious.

"Kirlia are called 'the Emotion Pokémon'. They share a strong empathic feeling with their trainer, and react accordingly and very strongly to their own and their trainer emotion. If they are happy, they get the irresistible impulse to dance." Sabrina finished her own glass of wine in a single, slow sip. "Did you look closely at that Kirlia?"

"Well... What about it?" James rapped his right temple with a finger while petting Growlie's head with the free hand.

"She was beautiful." Sabrina stated, earning a flush from James, who seriously never saw 'beauty' levels in Pokémon. "Kirlia grow more beautiful the better they are treated by their trainer. She probably loved him very much... And that's why she reacted so strongly when she mistook him for you and when she realized her mistake."

"... Son of a..."

"Grandpa! Language!" Maisy admonished Kurt as he let a curse run loose. The old apricot expert apologized to his granddaughter, but his attention was on something else.

"This is seriously bad, then... Poor thing." Noticing that everyone's attention was now on him, Kurt explained. "I couldn't get much out of the GS Ball before now, but one thing was for sure... That Pokéball hasn't been opened in more than eight hundred years."

"Eight hundred...!" Erika gasped at Kurt's declaration, and even the usually stoic Sabrina showed emotion at that statement. What those words meant sank in everyone's mind.

"Then... Then, that Kirlia's trainer is surely..."

"Defunct." Steven finished for James, joining his hands on the table. "If she was that affectionate to him... Or her... I dread the moment she realizes just how much time has passed from the last time she saw the light."

"... Good god..." James felt a know forming in his throat. She would be crushed, for sure. How do you explain to someone that your most beloved person and everyone else you knew are long dead?

-Breakline-

Ever since the strange group with the impostor had left the room, she had been trying to take in her surroundings, to recognize something that could tell where she was, that she still was at home, or in the Sanctuary, but she found everything alien and so different.

Everything seemed more new, more evolved... Better, compared to her own times. The only thing that hadn't changed were the healers. They still were identical with pink hair in the same cut and wearing white clothes.

She couldn't understand what was happening to her. Where were the injured? The enemy? The war status had been lifted while she slept? And just how much did she sleep if everything had become so different? Then her attention fell on something. A calendar.

Her breath stopped when she read the year in the right corner of the paper. She thought of a mistake. She began to check how they counted time. Maybe it was just another country. The sea tides had brought her there in a place where they counted time differently.

No. The method was the same. Seven days weeks, months made of thirty or thirtyone days with twelve months, February being the only one with twentyeight days. She began to panic when she noticed that unlike the year the war fought, that year February had twentynine days. So she had slept at least an year, but if the year on the calendar was exact...

She shook her head from side to side. That couldn't be true. He would never let something like that happen to her. Never. He promised they would meet again, that he would never let her go. If that was true, then, something... Something must have happened to him. She brought her trembling hands in front of her face, at a loss of what to do, where to go, how to...

"_If we somehow get separated, come back to the Sanctuary!_"

Then he remembered his last words to her. If they somehow became separated, they had to go back to the Sanctuary. She nodded to herself. That was what she needed to do. She had to go back to the Sanctuary... Then, she froze. The Holder. She didn't see her Holder anywhere. Without it, how could she...

"She's been staring down at her bed the whole time before falling asleep, the poor thing." She heard voices coming near. She immediately turned on one side and threw herself on the bed, faking sleep. "She didn't even eat anything..."

"Ah... I wonder why...?" There. She heard the voice again, and her heart skipped a bit. The impostor was there again. She trembled. If her worst thoughts were true, then... Why was this impostor there when her master... She contained herself. She had to focus. She wasn't an egg anymore. She was a grown up. She had to act like one.

She had noticed that he was not alone. He was in a group. They seemed to be concerned about her health. Maybe... They were the enemy? They had captured her... No, they had managed to find her Pokéball, lost by chance in the middle of battle, and now wanted to extort information from her? Maybe that was why there was an impostor with them. They wanted her to soften up... She couldn't allow it.

She focused her psychic powers and began to scan the minds of the presents. She immediately found the mind of the impostor, and she cringed when even its mind was so similar... She immediately moved to the next person. She found a juvenile mind, which main thoughts were apricots. Suddenly she tensed when she felt the presence of a very strong mind, with powers similar to her own. She avoided it, and she settled on a mind similar to the juvenile one.

She found thoughts of apricots as well, but the more recent ones were about her and about... She found it. The old mind's thoughts were about her Holder, how it had opened and now rested... In his pocket. She cut off the link, knowing what she had to do, now.

-Breakline-

"For now, I suggest you go to sleep. Maybe in the morning she will feel like talking." James nodded and followed a Chansey to a nearby room where he guessed guest trainers slept. He stopped when he noticed that Sabrina was staying behind as well. She was staring at the now darkened room where the Kirlia was sleeping.

"Sabrina, what is it?" He inquired, noticing that her gaze was focused, like she was questioning something or someone... With her mind, that is.

"... Nothing." She replied and then slowly walked past him, grabbing his hand in the process, much to his embarrassment and groaning.

-Breakline-

She scanned her surroundings. Everyone was asleep, even the strong mind. She got up from the bed and gently, silently let herself down from it... Or at least she tried. It was too tall for her. She fell on her butt, making it sore.

"Ki..." She rubbed it a bit as she made her way to the room where the impostor and the other males of his group were resting. She almost walked into the glass door. It opened in front of her at the last second, startling her. After a few seconds, she calmed down and tiptoed her way into the room.

They were all asleep, but she would have to be extra careful not to make any noise. A Growlithe was in their room. When she was in the center of the room, she started looking around for the clothes the old man had been wearing before, and then she found them and she noticed a suspicious spheric bulge in one of the pockets.

She focused her psychokinetic powers on the clothes and the bulges, and her Holder slipped out and slowly landed in her hands. She smiled to herself and walked out of there. A bit too loud than before, though, just enough for a Growlithe to notice and wake up, one eye shooting open. He gently nuzzled his owner's hand.

"Hmm... Growlie, not now..." The Growlithe decided to take more drastic actions and bit on his owner's hand a bit. "Hmmm... Alright, alright." James sat up in his bed. "What is it, Growlie?"

"Growl." The fire-type walked out of the room and the began pointing in a direction in the middle of the corridor. James slowly got up from his bed and rubbing his sleepy eyes, he turned his head in the direction pointed by his companion.

"Hmmm... Uh?" As his vision cleared, he found himself staring at an awake, kneeling Kirlia, which was somewhat making the GS Ball float in front of her, enveloped in an eerie blue light. "Hey. You're awake? But what are you doing?"

The psychic-type gasped and almost jumped out of her skin. She turned around, bewildered, to face James while the GS Ball still floated behind her. "I'm glad you're up. But what are you doing in the middle of the night with the GS... Huh?"

That was when something unexpected happened. The GS Ball opened and released light, only that the light didn't take the shape of a Pokémon but of a wide blue circle, or better a hole, as James saw it. "WOAH!" A hole that sucked in Kirlia first and James next, under the surprised stare of Growlie, as the GS Ball too floated through the hole and the hole closed before Growlie could try to jump after them.

-Breakline-

"AAAAAH!" James screamed as he fell through what he could only describe as a twisting tunnel of purple light. When the tunnel finished, he found himself face first against solid, concrete, ground, some of which got into his mouth and nose. He spat as he got himself off the ground. "Sput! Damn it! What the hell... Huh?"

Just then he noticed that he wasn't in Kansas or better in Goldenrod's Pokécenter anymore. As he looked around, he found himself surrounded by palm trees and other tropical kind of plant life. That was probably he wasn't freezing while being outdoors in just his pyjamas. "A jungle? What in the holy name of god just happened?"

"K-Kiii!" His out-loud thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a pretty distraught Kirlia pointing at him and shouting at him. Of course, he couldn't talk Pokémon. That was one of the times when having Meowth around could have been useful.

"Ehm... What?" He simply said, and the Kirlia fumed at his attitude, actual steam coming out of her ears. Then, she grabbed something from a tree, pulling on it three times before it broke and she fell on her rump when it broke. "... You... Need help?"

"Ki!" The Kirlia suddenly approached him and started to tie him up with a vine around his waist and arms, holding the other end like a leash. James sweatdropped when he realized that she had done a really sloppy work. He just needed to raise his arms to free himself.

"... So... I'm your prisoner?" The Kirlia nodded with puffed cheeks, and he sighed, rolling his eyes. "Never a normal Pokémon... Alright, alright. Lead the way, my jailer."

"Kirlia." The Kirlia nodded, apparently satisfied from the answer and James' situation as a captive, and began to pull on the vine to make him walk.

"... But seriously, where the hell did we end up?" James muttered under his breath, understanding that they were a lot more south than Goldenrod City, at that moment.

-Breakline-

"I must say, the guys you had working on this project were doing great... For a bunch of nobodies." Vicious commented to Giovanni as he kept on viewing a series of files on the screen of his computer. "Though, I must admit that they did a fine job in gathering all this new data. With this I will able to bring to perfection the process in no time."

"... I doubt so." Giovanni chuckled right after, earning a glare from Vicious. "Oh, I don't doubt your skills, Vicious... I'm doubting the possibilities of current technology."

"... An unfounded doubt, then." Vicious went back to the files inputting some commands on a keyboard till the screen displayed the schematics of some kind of machine. "Your prototypes were an innovation, but they have too much of a critical failure chance in which the specimen dies and the process itself takes too long. Both problems are born from the same reason..."

Vicious pressed another button. The schematics changed to the ones of another machine. "Alas, we don't have a powerful enough energy source... Yet." Vicious grinned, pressing another button, and three shapes appeared in the schematics. "My reactor will suit just fine. And it's just missing three pieces to come to fruition." Another button, one of the shapes flashed. "The flame of Moltres is already in our possession. The second one will take a bit more work, but the third..."

"The third will be in our hands soon enough, Vicious." Giovanni explained, to which Vicious turned his head around. "We've had a back up plan that will suit our needs quite nicely. We will get our hands on the specimen and at the same time we will force the Leagues to focus on something else for a little while longer."

"Ohhh... Intriguing." Vicious turned around in his chair, stretching his arms and crossing his hands behind his head. "Do tell. I love plans."

"I bet you do. Sadly, I don't really have time." Giovanni patted his Persian's head before picking up something from his right pocket and deftly throwing it at Vicious, who caught it at the last second. "So, why don't you just see for yourself. I bet you'll find it to your liking."

"Hmmm..." Vicious observed the object he had received as Giovanni walked out of the room. A glass CD container. Containing a CD, obviously. He opened it and put the storage device inside his computer. Pages upon pages of words and images appeared in front of him... His eyes widened around halfway through the document. "The son of a... Ahahahah! Giovanni, where were you keeping this jewel hidden?"

-Breakline-

"Alright... This is something new." He doubted one had ever heard of a Kirlia living in a ruin in the middle of a jungle. When they had first chanced, or better when the Kirlia had brought them to the ruin, he thought that they had probably got lost or something, since there was no entrance to be seen. Then, the psychic-type had held the GS Ball in front of a wall and the stone wall opened, much to his shock.

Inside they walked through moon-lighted corridors filled with non-stagnant air, which shocked him. He wasn't an expert on ruins, but he had dug enough tunnels through enough materials to know that it shouldn't be the case if that place had been closed up for a long time, which he supposed he did. No stagnant air, but plenty of webs and dust.

In the end, they had arrived in front of a what he understood was a door, which was written in Unknown. "... Sanctuary." He read off the door, dusting it off with a hand. He never quite understood what was the deal with all those archaeologists and everyone who studied those ruins... Of Alpha, was it? Was it really so hard to see that the Unknown had a vague resemblance to the letters of the modern alphabet? It just took a little imagination and...

Then, he noticed that Kirlia was staring at him. He understood. "Ah, sorry." He put the hand back inside the ropes. "Captive, captive."

The Kirlia grunted but then turned to the door again, and leaned one of her hands against the stone, focusing, closing her eyes. Then James saw what had happened to the GS Ball, currently tucked in one of his pyjamas pockets by the Pokémon, he saw Kirlia getting enveloped in a soft, eerie blue light. The light suddenly extended from the end to all the inscriptions on the door, and the letters in Unknown suddenly flashed bright blue.

James took an instinctive step back when the door started to lift, raising a lot of dust, but even like that he could tell that the Kirlia was excited, if her smiling face was any indication. Suddenly, she ran in and let go of the leash, much to James' relief. He got out of the thing right after. "I wonder what this place is... Cough!"

Shielding himself from the dust with an arm, James slowly walked inside, only to slip off an unseen step. "WOAH! OW! OUCH! EW!" And so on as he seemed to jump off each step only enough to land painfully on the next one. In the end, he arrived on the floor below bruised, disoriented and sprawled face first on the floor. "Oooooh... Will the producers ever give me a break...? What..."

The dust cleared and James found himself staring at giants. Or better, giant statues. They were giant statues of people and Pokémon, or better, various people and just two Pokémon. One was a Lucario, the other a Gardevoir. The two Pokémon statues were bigger than the human ones and were stationed at what he supposed were the west and east sides of the room.

The humans statues though were more detailed if smaller. Each statue depicted a different person, each one dressed differently with only the shared similarities of a strange necklace hanging in front of their chests. Also, he found out how come there was air and light in the place. The ceiling was a dome of glass with a bigh hole right in the middle. He could clearly see the moon. "... I repeat, what's this place..."

"Kiii..." He then got brought down to earth from what he detected as a wail. He turned in the direction the distraught sound came from to find a kneeling, sobbing Kirlia. He didn't understand what could have upset her like that. There was nothing in the room... And then it hit him. That was exactly the problem.

He remembered the conversation he and the others had had the previous evening about the Kirlia's owner and the time she had spent in the Pokéball. She had come here trying to find her owner, her trainer. He noticed some faded dents and scrapings on the floor. This place was probably once used by people, a long time before. All that remained now was... "... A flower?"

"K-Ki... Kii..." He could hear her tears dropping to the ground, as loud as can be, and it was wrecking him. The object was somewhat familiar to him, even if he couldn't place where and when he had seen it exactly. All in all, it seemed to be a flower made out of crystal, covered in dust like everything else in that place, but it seemed to shine under the moonlight nonetheless.

If he had to go with he had seen till that moment, it was another object that had to be touched with that strange energy to make it work. "... He probably left it for you." The Kirlia turned to James, tears streaming down her face. "Don't you think you should at least see what it is?"

The Kirlia stared at the 'impostor' a few seconds more before slowly touching the flower, her hand enveloped in strange blue energy yet again. Suddenly, the flower shone even more brightly than before, and a figure materialized above it, in front of James and the Psychic-type... And James paled. "... No way..."

-Breakline-

"He disappeared along with the Kirlia and the GS Ball... Very troubling."

"The Growlithe is very restless... He probably saw whatever happened and it wasn't natural." Sabrina didn't need to read the fire-type mind to see it, with the way the puppy Pokémon was barking around and sniffing his surroundings looking for a trace of his owner.

"... You don't think that maybe..."

"Don't even suggest it!" Erika cut off Kurt before he could even suggest that James had ran off with the GS Ball and the Kirlia.

"Sorry!" The old man immediately said, feeling the rage from the grass gym-leader like it was something palpable. "It's just... It was a possibility..."

"Not if you know him." Erika sniffed and turned her head to one side, remembering the time she herself had doubted him, and how she had vowed to never do so again.

"... Sabrina, I know it may go against your morals, but I think we do really need to see this Growlithe's memories." Steven declared, earning a stare from the gym Leader. "We're at a dead end, otherwise."

"... Very well."

-Breakline-

"... This... That... He... You..." James had fallen on his but immediately after the flower had started projecting an image that was very, very familiar to him. He had seen the man being projected in the image many times in his life, even if there were some differences, the first being his clothes. A coat covered most of them, but he could see the brown boots, the large hat and one of the necklaces of the statues hanging from his neck.

His hair weren't exactly violet, instead they were a dark shade of blue. He could also sport a few scars on his neck opposed to his facial one, his eyebrows were a bit ticker and his eyes of a darker shade of the same colour, but the point was, he had seen that man already, many times. Every time he looked into a mirror. "That's... That's me! Or at least, a version... I mean, he looks like me! Why does he look like me?"

"You took your sweet time, Ki... But I guess it's to be expected. It's not like just anyone can open an holder." His blue haired version started talking, and he gasped at how his voice was instead identical, a perfect copy of his own one. Then he grinned sheepishly and brought a hand to the back of his head. "Ahh, listen to me, berating you, while I'm the bad one. After all..." His expression turned sad right after. "... I'm the one who lost your Holder in the middle of battle. I mean, I got this nasty wound in the last battle, but still... I should have held onto you."

"Battle? Woun..." Then James noticed something. Now that the man had raised one arm, he could see under his coat. His old, leather armour didn't bother him as much as the fact that he was missing a whole arm, though. "Damn."

"Even with only one hand... I should have never let you go." He shook his head and the raised it again. "Well, at least we won the battle. We drove them back... And now, we're preparing to launch our own offensive. We've discovered where they're hiding, Kiki." The man said, bring his hand in front of his chest and gripping it hard, a show of determination. "We can bring everything to an end... It's going to be hard. We've lost many people when they attacked, but they lost more. We can do this... And then..."

James saw that the Kirlia's stream of tears was increasing in intensity. "I'll come looking for you. I don't know how much it will take, but I swear I will find you again. Even if I have to search by eye all the seas of the world, I will find you... I swear, Kiki." The man finished, and James wondered if he had ever had that same gaze in his life, eyes that shined like a bright fire. "Now... I have to go. Lou and me have to get ready. I'll see you, Kiki. This... This is just in case you manage to free yourself before I get to you. The others here will take care of you and send for me, otherwise. Heh, wouldn't that be nice..." The blue-James said again, and he waved with his hand before the image fluttered and died. The registration was over.

James' mind was a turmoil. He now understood how the Kirlia had mistaken him for her owner... Hell, he was probably a descendant of the guy or something. Also, about this battle, this war that he was fighting. All so confusing... Something was awfully clear though, sadly for 'Kiki', who was currently grasping at the ground with her fingers, a torrent of tears not stopping.

Everything they had supposed was true: the GS Ball had kept the Kirlia alive for eight hundred years while the world kept on going and her owner and everyone else died. Also, he could see that his ancestor or whoever he was was as devoted to her as she was to him. For him to not come looking for her, he could only think that this 'final battle' had not ended happily for either side.

The sobs wrecking the figure of the psychic-type, her small hands grasping at the ground, hurting themselves, the tears... It was more than he could take. He approached her, turned her around and hugged her, much to the psychic-type's surprise. When he felt her stiffen, he just hugged her tighter. "I-I never lost someone! Not like this! I had to let go of a lot of friends in my life, but at least... At least I know that they're alive and doing well! This... I can't possibly know what you're going through right now, but... Let me help!"

"... Ki..." The Kirlia stopped crying because of the surprise, he guessed. He took his chance to break the hug and gently shook her by the shoulders, making her stare at his own face.

"I know that right now you have nothing in the whole world, but you have to keep going! He... He wanted you to be safe, right? That's why... You have to keep on going for him too!" He was shouting by now, but he didn't care much. "Whatever you want to do now... I'll help you! I swear I'll do anything! I don't care if it's... Finding his resting place or other places like this, I'll help you! Well, first I have to go back to the others... But then I'll help you! I swear!"

"..." The Kirlia just stared at him for a while longer, staring particularly at his eyes. Again, something familiar about him, and it brought her head back to a similar situation...

-Breakline-

"_So you still haven't evolved while all the other Sisters did? Big deal! That doesn't mean they're better than you are! I bet you have so much potential hidden that if you don't learn to harness part of it before evolving, you'd make this whole place go boom!" He said and shook her shoulders again. "Listen! From now on we're partners, and that means that I'm your friend! I don't care what you want to do or when you will evolve or if at all, I'll help you! Whatever happens, I'll always be by your side! I swear!"_

-Breakline-

And just like that time, she reacted the same way. She slowly lowered her head till it touched his chest and then hugged him, crying again, but more softly this time. James understood that he had managed to somehow get through to her. He removed his hands from her shoulders and hugged her, softly, this time. _It seems like she calmed down... Thank goodn..._

_No. Thank you._ He suddenly heard a familiar but at the same time unfamiliar voice in his head. It was melodious and obviously feminine. He blinked and slowly lowered his gaze, staring at the Kirlia, who flushed because of the attention. "HOLY KYOGRE ON A STICK! YOU CAN TALK?"

The Kirlia smiled through the tears. Even this reaction had been identical.

-Breakline-

After calming down and walking out of the ruins, James and the Kirlia had walked till they reached a shore, or better, a beach, and that was when James found out that they were on an island, on which the sun had already set as they walked through the jungle. "We're on a tropical island?" He dug into his pocket and picked out the GS Ball and then looked at Kiki. "Just how did you manage it?"

_Ehm... It's thanks to the GS Ball technology... And a power that it's called Aura. Sadly, it can't always be done on a whim... I'm sorry._ She replied, a bit embarrassed by the attention.

"Aura... Uh? Now, where have I heard that before?" James commented, scratching his chin in thought. He definitely had heard it somewhere before. He thought it was related to the twerp somehow.

_Well, I figure you should know about it. After all, you're one of us, right?_ Kiki 'thought', breaking James out of his reverie.

"One of us? Us who?" He asked, surprising Kiki. He didn't know, and he had probably missed the part of his message when he had said that not just anyone could open her holder. "Well, later. Right now..." He turned his eyes back to the sea. "Right now, I wish I knew where in the hell..."

A very loud noise suddenly echoed in the distance, knocking James' head to the side. Both he and Kiki turned in the direction of the noise, and found that from behind a nearby cape, the figure of a very big ship was approaching at a steady speed, with a number of people observing the shores holding cameras, one only holding a microphone.

"And here you can see Ruin Island. This island is completely devoid of human life and its most interesting spot is the ruins in the middle of it, the use of which still hasn't been discovered."

"You heard that, dear? A deserted island."

"So exciting! It's like a novel! I... Oh, my."

"Mom! Look! A weirdo wearing pyjamas on a beach!"

"... I guess this was a pretty secure and hidden location... Eight hundred years ago. Still, who the hell sightsees at 8 AM?" James muttered, but relieved that he wouldn't have to swim all the way back to dry land.

_A-A giant metallic Pokémon?_ He 'heard' Kiki gasp in surprise, and he facepalmed.

"Technology. Bane of all time travellers."

-Breakline-

"Are you absolutely sure that you're not mistaken?" Sabrina's glare silenced even the former Hoen Champion. Steven just sighed. "Just checking. It is a bit incredible, you have to admit."

"No other explanation though, since he disappeared just in his pyjamas and James' Growlithe can't find his scent." A fact that depressed the fire-type a lot, Erika noticed by the slumped posture of the Pokémon. "So... What now? It doesn't help us much... Or at all."

"Sorry... Are you miss Erika?" Suddenly the nurse Joy of the center appeared in the room. Erika turned around and nodded. The nurse handed her a Pokénav. "It's for you... He says his name is James."

"What? Really?" Erika snapped the phone out of the nurse's hand, with everyone approaching her instinctively to listen in on the call. "James! Where are you? We've been ballistic, here! … YOU'RE WHERE?"

-Breakline-

"Geez, why does she have to shout over the phone?" James put a hand to his still ringing ear as he moved away the Pokénav. Erika seemed to have quite a set of lungs. He slowly put the Pokénav back to his ear. "As I said, me and Kiki... That's the Kirlia's name, have been somehow been transported in the middle of the Orange Archipelagos. We've been found from a sightseeing ship that is currently going back to Pummelo Island."

"_How the hell did you... Was it the GS Ball?"_

James instinctively nodded, even if there was no way Erika could see it, of course. "Yeah... That Ball... Has a story about it... And many more secrets than what we previously thought." James threw a side glance to Kiki who was currently staring nervously at her surroundings. "Listen, it's not a big deal. I'm going to take a ship to Olivine City from Pummelo Island and we will meet there. That was our goal in the first place, right?"

-Breakline-

"Well, yes... I guess it's true." Erika sighed and brushed a lock of hair behind her right ear. "What about money? All your possessions are here, including your money and... Your clothes." The nature-loving princess added with a blush.

"_The captain of the ship gave me some clothes to change out of my pyjamas, and I can go to a Pokémon center and take money from my account. Easy."_ Erika nodded in agreement. He seemed to have taken everything in account. The only thing troubling her was that he didn't have a single Pokémon with him, but he shouldn't run into trouble on a boat and waiting for them in Olivine city.

"Alright... It will take us a week or so, I think. Also, Sabrina wanted to stop by Ecruteak City, remember?"

"_Yes. Take your time, don't worry. I ain't going nowhere, after all."_ Erika nodded instinctively as well.

"Alright. See you in a week, then." With that, she closed the call, handed the Pokénav back to the nurse Joy and turned to the others. "The GS Ball landed him straight in the middle of the Orange Archipelagos, it seems."

"It what?" Kurt was more vocal than his granddaughter, who just gasped in surprise.

"... What now?" Sabrina asked, standing up from her seat.

"He's going to head ahead to Olivine and wait for us there." Erika replied, turning to the other occupants of the room. "He also said something about the GS Ball having some story and more secrets behind it... So, I guess that leaves us asking what you three are going to do."

"Hmm... I'd love to follow, but I have work to do in Azalea... I can't leave my workshop closed for much." Kurt replied. "Just promise to pitch in and give a call once you reach him. I'm still damn curious about the GS Ball's secret... And that Kirlia."

"This is our home number." Maisy handed Erika a card, which the gym leader found to be a business card for... Maisy. The small girl just grinned sheepishly. "There was this machine that made them... I just couldn't resist."

"I-I see..." Erika sweatdropped and then turned to Steven. "What about you, Sir..."

"Just Steven." The former Champion cut off Erika and then brought a hand to his chin. "To tell you the truth... The matter intrigues me. Also, there are some peculiar rock formations around Olivine city that I wouldn't mind checking out." Steven said, his eyes sparkling for a moment when he talked about rocks. Kurt sighed. "Tell you what, I have a few things to check in town. You go ahead and I'll reach in Olivine as soon as possible. I'd really wish to learn the story of that Kirlia."

"Then, it's settled. Me and Sabrina will head to Olivine city and you will reach us soon after... It will be soon, right?" Erika remembered that it would take a week at least to her and Sabrina travelling by feet. Steven just smiled mysteriously.

"Oh, I'm positive I will be after you, do not worry." The ex-Champion declared, which unnerved Erika a bit. She found herself believing him, though.

-Breakline-

"So... That's settled." James closed the call and handed the Pokénav back to the captain of the ship. "Thanks for lending me these clothes, captain."

"Nonsense, twas my pleasure. Only, I don't think they suit you very much." The man commented, looking at James' currently white and blue attire. "Sorry boy, but you ain't got much of the sailor look going for you."

"No big deal. They will do until we get to Pummelo Island." James declared, earning a nod from the captain. He nodded too and headed back to the side of the ship, where Kiki was leaning on, observing the waters as the ship travelled over it, cutting them into foam. "Anything interesting in the water?"

_It's just... The colours haven't changed in all these years. It's nice to see... That something hasn't changed._ James stared at her a bit and then sighed. He couldn't expect her to get over her melancholy that soon.

"So... I still haven't told you my name, by the way, Kiki." He tried to at least talk to her. He made her turn around and he pointed his right thumb at his chest. "I'm James. And you're Kiki, right?"

_Yes... That's the name he gave me._ And there they went again, much to James' chagrin... But maybe, it wasn't that she had to forget him. Maybe she had to accept the fact that he was gone... Turn him just into a memory.

"What was his name? You know, maybe he is my ancestor... I mean, there's no way we're not related." _Even if I don't know by memory my entire family tree... I'd have to go back home to check..._ He shuddered. _No way I'm going back there before I either get married on my own... Where the hell did that come from?_

_His name was Noah... He was my partner._ She replied, and he had guessed right. It seemed that getting her to open up was the point.

"A partner... In what? What did your... Organization do?" then, he remembered the details of the registration on the flower. "He was talking about a battle. Who were you fighting?"

_Well..._ He saw her tense up, but not because of her sadness, this time. He was more like a reluctance to talk about the argument. He could understand that she was thinking, the gaze focused on him. She was evaluating whether to tell him or not. _I don't know how much of your own history you know... But back then, there was war. Waged all over the region of Kanto, and these small islands. Terrible wars fought between humans and their Pokémon. We were on the right side._

"... A war?" Indeed, how much of their own history they knew... Now that he thought about it, though, he remembered hearing something about a past war. Some kind of legend, actually, more than a real documented piece of history. Around the time they were stalking the twerp at the Silver Conference.

_Yes... A group of humans suddenly decided they wanted to conquer the world... Only, they discovered a method of doing it more easily... By altering their Pokémon. Making them more powerful, but at the same time more ruthless... More evil._ James suddenly tensed. That sounded awfully familiar.

"How... How did they do that?" He immediately asked, the sudden change in his tone of voice startling Kiki a bit.

_I don't know... I think that our leaders knew or at least had a theory. All that I know is that... It has something to do with an evil version of our power... Aura._ James was now listening very carefully to Kiki's word. _That's why only we could oppose them. We were the only ones able to counter their conditioning. That was also the reason the humans could only have two type of Pokémon as partners. Members of the Riolu family tree and members of the Ralts family tree. Our final evolved forms are the only Pokémon able to use Aura._

"So that would mean... Gardevoir and Lucario?" James commented, going through his Pokédex knowledge.

_Yes. Although... Lucario are the only ones who could use it for actual fighting and produce it on their own. Gardevoir can only absorb their human partner's ones and manipulate that, and that has to be learned too. So, we mostly use it for defending and healing our partners._ That made James blink.

"So, basically... Humans who can use aura are just... Giant batteries of Aura for their Pokémon partners?" Kirlia nodded, getting what the world battery meant even if she didn't know what a battery was. "... That sounds... Strange..." _I've definitely heard about Aura before..._

_Yes... So, the last time I saw him, they had discovered our base... It was on another island than the one we travelled to. I became too exhausted to keep on fighting and so..._ Then she noticed how James had become pensive all of a sudden. _What is it? And why did you ask about... How they turned Pokémon?_

"... Kiki, I think there's something you should know." _I don't know if the two matters are really related, but... There's the chance._

-Breakline-

"**You wanted to see me, Leader?"**

"**Yes. Come near."** He did as told, approaching him, the only sound over the thunderous voice the splashing of water. **"It is time again, young one."**

"**Another raid... Where should we lay in wait, this time?"**

"**No. No more ambushes. No more patrolling, raiding random passer-bys... This time, we have a target."** The Leader turned around, his red eyes shining in the darkness. **"Olivine City."**

"**Olivine..."** The younger oner was a bit taken back by his Leader's declaration. Ever since he had joined the group, the routine had been always the usual: they periodically picked a place where to lay in wait for prey and make an ambush. Do some damage, then scurry away before they got a chance to understand what was going on. **"Leader, are you really sure about this? Attacking a city? That would mean... Exposing ourselves."**

"**That's exactly what I want. Every attack till now has just been a set up, a preparation... To make us ready for this. To make sure that we had the right members... And I believe you are."** The Leader turned to the younger member. **"We have strong, obedient members... And I have found you. A trusted lieutenant... With a hatred that burn as strong as mine."**

"**Yes, we are strong enough, but our group has always thrived on secrecy, Leader."**

"**That won't do any more!"** The Leader roared and turned around, not flinching or backing off, a merit to his fibre. **"I've founded this group so that we could get our revenge, but if they don't know it's us... If they don't know that it's us that are hurting them, they'll never understand! They'll never get the why, they'll never repent... Suffer! Wish they could change things when they are faced with the inevitable!"**

"**... Still..."**

"**You should know it better than the others, young one."** That made the Lieutenant stop talking and this time, flinch. **"After all, you weren't just shunned or ridiculed... You were abandoned."**

"**... I..."** The young one stared down, as his gaze got lost in memories. Memories of how indeed he had been first cherished and then right after thrown away. At least, he had gotten his revenge... But his anger remained still. He narrowed his eyes and a low growl escaped his throat. **"Your orders?"**

"**... We depart at the first light of dawn. That way, we should arrive at the same time in two days at Olivine."** The Leader turned away from his lieutenant again, satisfied with his renewed obedience and resolve. **"I will give you your battle plan on the way there and then... We will attack. I assure you than in three days, Olivine City will be no more."**

_To be continued..._

_In the next chapter_

It seems that it's out of the flame and into the frying pan for James. As he waits for his friends in Olivine, he will find himself right in the middle of an enormous, sudden crisis that will make him wish to be back on that train with the broken brakes. Stay tuned!


	9. Siege of Olivine I

What's the best way of starting a new year if not with a new chapter? And here it is! Just a warning, though. From this chapter on, the story will become serious business, meaning it will become a bit dark. Got it? Then, enjoy!

**Journey of a thousand James**

**Chapter9: Attack on Olivine City**

"Well, Kiki... Welcome to Olivine City." James and Kiki had just stepped off the small ladder that connected the boat on which they had boarded to the Olivine Pier. James had been in the city before, but for Kiki it was the first time, and it showed by her awed expression.

_So... So big... And different, and the buildings are so tall._ The Kirlia's attention got particularly drawn by the towering figure of the lighthouse. _What's that one? It's shaped so strangely..._

"It's a lighthouse. It uses light to signal to ships at night just how close they are to dry land. Wouldn't want a boat to ram the local gym or something..." Then James remembered something. Unlike most of the things Kiki was going to see in this time, lighthouses were an old enough invention that she should know them. "You've never seen a lighthouse in your time?"

_No... I spent most of the time training in one of the safe houses, and when we left it was for missions, so there wasn't much time for sightseeing._ James nodded, feeling a little sad. Even when she was in her time, she knew little of it. Maybe it would help her with the transition, but still, it was sad. Such a secluded life...

"... My childhood was pretty much the same, you know." James muttered silently as they walked on the pier, heading towards the main city. He removed his hat and used it as a makeshift fan to cool himself down a bit. It wasn't at the level of the Orange Islands, but it was still hot. Good thing he had managed to find some cool clothes in Pummelo islands that would work even when they left that latitude. Light brown cargo pants and a survival jacket of the same colour, a light grey t-shirt wore under the jacket, then a still light brown cap and black fingerless gloves. He had also bought a new set of survival gear, his own one being back with Erika and Sabrina. "Being a rich kid isn't all fun and games."

_I'm sorry to hear that... I-Huh?_ Kiki's attention was suddenly drawn this time to a large group of people, marching side by side, all wearing similar clothes and carrying various objects, the most glaring ones were huge flags. Also they were making a lot of noise and racket. _A-An invading force?_

"Ehm... No, they're not." James had started looking at the group too once they had come into hearing distance. The slogans, the flags, the long jacket that suited an old-fashioned carpenter only with precise colours in mind, the megaphones. "They're something worse..."

_S-Something worse?_ Kiki tensed, a bit scared, and James couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yup. They're baseball fans."

"WHO DO WE FOLLOW?"

"THE ELECTABUZZ!" James hair was comically thrown back as the little army of sports fans was excited in a choir by who seemed the leader of the ragtag band, who was currently riding some sort of shield which was in turn carried by some of the biggest baseball fans he had ever seen. Strange to him that the leader was a girl.

"... Hey, she's familiar." Also wearing the trademark yellow, black-striped, jacket of the team and the team's cap, she completed the outfit with an azure t-shirt and black and white striped shorts. "... Ah! The crazy Electabuzz girl!"

"WHO WILL WIN THE GAME?" Indeed. She had grown taller and she had grown a little more on the chest over the years, even if it couldn't be more than a B-Cup from the looks of it, not that one could expect a 14 years old girl to have more than that, and somewhere in Hoen a coordinator sneezed, but she still kept her hair in the same style, so it was easy to recognize her.

"THE ELECTABUZZ!" Also, it seemed that she had climbed the ladder into the cheering team or something. James shivered. He remembered how hyper the girl was about her favourite baseball team, and if she managed to spread the contagion to the rest of the fans... He dreaded the day. The Electabuzz already had a very loyal fanbase, but to take it to Casey's level was madness.

"Though... I wonder what they're doing in Olivine." James said, putting a hand to his chin, while Kiki asked him what was baseball to begin with.

"What? You don't know?" His thoughts were broken by a voice suddenly answering his questions, coming from behind him. He turned his head and came to lay his eyes to yet another familiar face, this one male and with much shorter hair than him, golden brown coloured accompanied by blue eyes and tanned skin. "Of course, it's because today is the day of the inter-league finals!"

"Inter-league finals?" While his face was familiar, James couldn't immediately remember where he had seen him. That was probably because he had never tried to scam him. He usually remembered every face he tried to scam because he associated them with the scam. That, or eccentric personalities. This one just blinked at his question.

"Hmm, not a baseball fan, are you?" James shook his head from side to side in sign of no. The stranger emitted a 'Hmmm' of disapproval, before returning to a normal visage. "Oh, well. Nobody's perfect. Suffice to say, it's a special every four years direct elimination tournament that puts in competition the champions of each region's league. The Sinnoh and Kanto teams lost in the semifinals, and finally, tonight, there's the final match between the Electabuzz from Jotho and the Houndoom from Hoen! It's gonna be a great game!"

"... You a fan of the other team?" The guy who looked just a few years younger than him nodded, and then dug into his pocket to show him some kind of ID. It was all black and red and it said 'Member of the Official Houndoom Fanclub'. "I see... I happened to find myself in Olivine in a pretty particular time, didn't I?"

"You don't know the half of it! It will be a great way to inaugurate the Olivine Stadium!" The young man pointed with his arm and finger to a dome in the distance, something that wasn't there the last time he came to the town. When he came to Saffron to pick up Chimecho didn't count, since he just jumped off the ship and climbed on another. "They finished building it two weeks ago. I saw some photos, and it looks like state of the art."

"Hmm... Well, thanks for the advice. I'll try not to anger any fan while I'm staying here." James smiled and pointed with one hand at Kiki. "This is Kiki, and I'm James." He then extended his own arm towards the gold-haired man, who copied the gesture to shake James' hand with his own.

"I'm Harrison from Littleroot. Nice to meet you." Mentally, James snapped his fingers. Now he remembered the guy. It was the trainer that had defeated the twerp in the Silver Conference an year and a half before or so. "Well, I guess I'll see you around. I'm not saying at the game because, even wanting to go, the tickets have been sold out for months."

"Heh, I guessed so. See you, Harrison." Harrison winked at James and then walked away, waving at him with his right hand. James returned the gesture until the trainer was out of sight. "Well, seems like the world is small indeed. Now come on, let's go take a room at the Pokémon center, Kiki."

-Breakline-

"This should be far enough." Unseen by everyone, a silent flying machine slowly lowered himself on the innermost part of one of the cliffs surrounding Olivine city. At the commands, two masked figures wearing a leather uniform, a gold R badge evident on the left side of their chests. "Lowering now. Slooowly..."

"Hmm... Leather. Why did it have to be leather?" The one member with silver hair didn't like the choice for their new uniforms. They supposedly were to distinguish them, the elite, from other members, but blue leather with golden refinements and a gold badge? Not his style. A slight shook told him that his blonde haired partner had landed their vehicle.

"Perfect landing! Yes!" He complimented himself and then adjusted his sunglasses. "So, when do we go in?"

"The boss told us near the end." The blonde one turned to his partner with a raised eyebrow.

"Seriously? But that could take days."

"This vehicle comes with a bathroom." He simply raised, crossing his arms over his chest. "But seriously, would you prefer to get caught in the crossfire? It's gonna be hell."

"... I guess." The blonde one removed his sunglasses and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Though, it's gonna be so boring... Know any card games?"

"No." The blonde rocket groaned. It was going to be a looooong wait.

-Breakline-

"A wonderful Pokémon, indeed." Electric Pokémon may had been on the opposite side of his expertise spectrum, but he had enough skill and confidence to make it accept a few caresses on his nuzzle. "Alone, he keeps this lighthouse up? Incredible."

"Yes. Amphy is... Special." She tucked a long strand of light brown hair behind her right ear. "He can generate an enormous amount of electrical energy, the double of any normal Ampharos... That's probably way he's always so weak. It takes a tool on his body."

"I guess." He adjusted his own blue hair, placing it back so that they safely covered one of his eyes before stopping caressing the electric type's nuzzle. "I can see you take very good care of him... Well, I guess I should at least relay the message I have to give you. As much as it pains me to say so, this isn't a visit of pleasure."

"Hehehe, I guessed as much." Jasmine chuckled, bring a half-clenched hand in front of her face while doing so. Falkner just shook his head.

"A Gym Leader asked to be errand boy for the League... Well, what can I say. I am a master of flying Pokémon, after all." He chuckled before crossing his arms on his chest. "On the 1st of Novemeber, a special meeting of the League will be held at Indigo Plateau. All Gym Leaders of Jotho and Kanto are required to be there. All the Elite Four and the Champion will be there as well."

"Oh... That's unusual." Jasmine remembered that her predecessor had attended such a meeting just once in his life, and for her, that would be the first time. "For all the Gym Leaders of Jotho and Kanto to be summoned, along with the Elite Four... And the champion? Sir Lance's role hasn't even been made official yet."

"Yes, that struck me as strange as well." Falkner walked to the glass window of the lighthouse, looking outside at the setting sun and the mass of people starting to head towards the stadium, which artificial lights were beginning to shine. "I can only guess that it's something big... Maybe it has something to do with the recent Team Rocket activities."

"The attack on the Magnet Train... The Flame of Moltres, the attack on Miss Lorelei..." Jasmine summed everything up nicely as she knelt down and checked Amphy's resting place. "They've never been so bold, except for that failed attack on the drowned Sn Anne a few years ago... Team Rocket has always thrived on secrecy, after all."

"If they decided to come out like this, something so big... This will force the attention of everyone on them. And I'm not talking about Pokémon Leagues only." Falkner observed silently as the orange flaming ball slowly went down behind a far cape. "Team Rocket has bases in other regions too. Something like this will force other cryme sindicates' hands as well. They must know it will happen. So, either they went stupid..."

"Or they think they can take all the 'attention'." Jasmine said, slowly narrowing her eyes at nothing in particular, which unsettled Amphy as he laid eyes on her. The gym leader blushed in embarrassment and apologized to the electric type by rubbing his head comfortingly.

"Only time will tell, I guess." The sun went down completely, and Amphy saw it as a sign that he was to begin his nightly work. Closing his eyes, he began to focus.

"Ah. We'd better get downstairs. Amphy is getting to work." Jasmine got up back on her feet and opened the trap door that led down. "It can get quite... Bright, up here, once he does."

"I'll take your word for it. Also, I guess it's time I hurried up to the stadium. Want to find a good spot to perk on." Jasmine blinked at that, confused. Falkner frowned at that. "I didn't buy the ticket just because I was rooting for the Kanto Wartortles."

Jasmine understood and then chuckled again, earning a blush from the flying type master.

-Breakline-

"Hmm... I hate to admit it, but I'm starting to get used to this, you know?"

"Same here. Travelling and Pokémon are everything to me, but a life like this is fine too... Room-mate."

"Don't start saying those things!" Dawn shouted while Ash and Brock just laughed and kept their attention on the pre-game of the big baseball match. "It's not funny! Start thinking like that and you'll want to keep on working here forever, even after paying back the damage of the wall! I have ribbons to win!"

"Dawn, come on, we're just joking." Ash tried to laugh it off as he caught another handful of pop corn, courtesy of a bowl handed to him by Pikachu and Dawn's Prinplup. "I am, for one, not going to stop travelling till I become the best Pokémon Master ever! But for the time being, this is not bad."

After understanding that they were gonna be there for a few weeks, the owner of the diner fixed them with an apartment that he owned to stay into, having overwelcomed their stay at the Pokémon center. Brock and Ash had bunked together, while Dawn had moved in with Jessie, but she still came to visit as often as she could. And sometimes...

"Hey, twerps. We brought the beverages!"

"Ahhhhhh! Jessie! You..." The purple haired rocket slammed Brock in the floor with a foot before he could even think of latching onto her body. Ash chuckled at his predicament, but then understood that that was the sign that they were warming up to the rockets. After all, Brock had never tried to hit on Jessie for a reason. "Ooooh, you look lovely in those shorts."

"Sicko." Jessie dug his face into the floor a little more while Meowth dropped a six-pack of beers on the nearby table.

"De big game's here, finally. I'm betting on de Electabuzz." He then plopped down on an armchair and Pikachu handed him a poffin. "Ah, thanks."

"... Damn, this is messed up. Up until a few days ago, he zapped at the first sight of you and look at us now." Ash said, laughing and scratching the back of his head. "We're all dressed casually in a living room watching a baseball game together."

"And handing alcohol to minors..." Dawn said, narrowing her eyes at the six pack. She then yelped when Jessie slapped her ass.

"Ahh, come on, flat stuff. It's just a beer. You can break mama's rules, once or twice." Dawn blushed and then started waving her fists in anger at Jessie for the flat comment.

"Uh? My Pokénav..." Brock had successfully removed himself from the floor and cleaned himself up when a ring coming from his right pocket caught his attention. "Moshi moshi? Oh, dad! How are you?" Brock smiled as he listened to the reply. "Just fine. I'm about to watch the big game with the others, here... Oh? A message from the League? Ah, damn. I hope they didn't finally find out..." His father cut him off if the renewed silence was anything to go about. Suddenly, the smile disappeared from Brock's face, leaving space to surprise. "... Seriously?"

The change in tone in Brocks' voice caught everyone's attention. Brock was rarely seen or heard as serious. "... The first of November... Alright, I got it. Thanks, dad." With that, he closed the call. "I can't believe this..."

"What's wrong, Brock?" The tanned gym leader turned to his companions.

"The Elite Four summoned all the Gym Leaders of Jotho and Kanto for a meeting on the first of November at the Indigo Plateau." That made everyone surprised. The ones who understood the implications of the thing, actually. So, just Meowth and Jessie.

"That's... A big thing, right?" Dawn asked, while Ash just scratched the back of his head. Brock nodded.

"Yeah... I wonder what could have happened to force such a summoning... Maybe..." Brock 'hmm'-ed for a few seconds, before shrugging. "Oh, well. Let's just enjoy the game, for the time being!" Without Kanto or Jotho newspapers or a computer, the guys had no idea of what had happened to Lorelei, of course.

-Breakline-

"And then there's the role called pitcher. A pitcher is the player who throws the ball from the mound to the catcher."

_Ooooh..._ Kiki had a whole new world to know about. After asking about boats, lighthouses, electricity, running water and Pokémon food, she had taken an interest in the game of baseball, but it wasn't surprising. Even outside of the stadium, and even if there was still half an hour before the beginning of the game, there was the same tumult. Diners were full with people eating and waiting for the game to start on the many maxi videos hung up everywhere, some even in the middle of the streets.

"That... Pretty much sums up what I know about baseball. I'm not an expert..." He said as he turned to the television again, and Kiki followed with her own gaze. "You'll probably learn more by watching."

_Ahhh..._ Suddenly a small growl echoed in the room, and Kiki blushed. James was confused, but the chuckled as he realized it came from her stomach. _Sorry..._

"It's alright, don't worry. Our food should be here soon, by the way..."

"I'm sorry..." James turned to the side to meet the bowing shape of the diner's waitress. "Your food is almost ready, but, we would like to ask a favour of you. There's a person who wants to eat, but yours are the only remaining places in the diner..."

"Ah. Well, it's alright. Kiki can sit beside me." He nodded and shifted in his seat to allow Kiki to come sit on his left. Just as she did so, a tall female figure came into sight.

"Thanks for having me."

"Ah, it's no problem. I... Huh." James blinked as he laid eyes on the third female Jotho Gym Leader he had met since coming back to Kanto, and this one had had the honour of kicking his team's ass twice. The girl noticed his staring and turned her head to the side, embarrased.

"Ah... I see you recognized me." An escape route that James took immediately.

"Ehm... Yes. I was just surprised, that is all." James smiled and Jasmine took her seat right in front of him.

"I'm sorry to disturb you as you were talking... Oh, my. What a lovely Kirlia." Kiki blushed and tensed at the attention, not really used to be in the middle of a crowded place with so many unknown people. James chuckled.

"Yeah. One of my friends said that she's beautiful. Can't say that I don't agree." Kiki lowered turned her head to the side. "So... Not a baseball fan either?"

"No, I'm not." She admitted. "I don't like crowds very much either, but... I guess I just have to go with the flow. This is a big event, for Olivine. There are people from four different regions of the world currently in town."

"It's true. I can't remember the last time I saw so many people in the same city in the streets or in diners... An even of aggregation of such magnitude... Uh." James blinked. He had never been one to use such big words. "That was weird."

"Hehehe, but it was fitting." Jasmine giggled earning a flushed face from the violet haired trainer. He hoped the food was coming soon. No one had the right to have such nice eyes and a cute laugh to go with it. He almost made him wish to make a fool out of himself on purpose.

-Breakline-

"**... It's finally in sight."** Two shapes emerged from the sea water. It was still a few miles from Olivine, but the city was finally able to be seen.

"**Your orders, Leader?"** The younger protégé asked to his superior.

"**As planned, you will lead one team of nine at each time, changing between them each time they run out of shots. The four we've selected will be stationed at the agreed positions after the initial attack."** He kept his gaze on the faraway city, before moving his eyes to the visage of his lieutenant. **"Don't intervene nor attack unless particularly strong trainers happen to appear."**

"**I understand. As for the targets of the initial attacks? Are you sure..."**

"**Young man..."** The young lieutenant stopped talking as he was interrupted by his superior. **"I've been training just for something such as this. Don't even think of suggesting I might not be up to the task. This is something that I will do."**

"**... Of course, Leader. Your will is law."**

-Breakline-

"... I must say I'm impressed, Karen." After an extensive background check which confirmed thought that Karen had never won a badge nor competed for one, there was still the matter of her placement. One didn't just 'ask' to be an Elite Four, after all. Karen decided to make short work of the process and offer to battle everyone of her 'future colleagues'. She had managed to defeat Bruno and Koga, only to fall before Lance's. He recalled his Pokémon while Karen tended to her defeated Umbreon. "I guess that places you as the leader of the Elite Four... Well, three."

"Hmm... About that, I think I have another candidate to suggest. You were looking for one, right? And I know for a fact that he's in the list you have made." Karen stroked her Pokémon's neck one more time before recalling it to her Pokéball. "His name is Will. He trains Psychic types Pokémon, and I know for a fact that he's strong enough to fit the position of the weakest member of the Elite Four."

"... You've battle and defeated him, I guess. Then again, Psychic attacks don't work on Dark types." Lance sighed. Indeed, he remembered the name of a certain Will on the list of candidates for the Elite Four Lorelei had prepared. "Now, though... You must indulge my curiosity."

"Oh? And what could the Indigo League's champion want to know about little old me?" Karen chuckled as she stood back up.

"You're a powerful trainer, yet you've never challenged a Gym and you didn't figure in our database, which probably means that you've battled very few times in your life. Why?" Lance crossed his arms under his mantle and Karen chuckled a bit more as she walked up to him.

"Because I found it boring. If you haven't guessed yet from my refined speech and flawless body... And the gold I carry around on myself, I have little to wish for from life. The only thing I crave is excitement... So, when I read about Team Rocket attacking and hospitalizing Lorelei... I knew that something big was coming up. I've been so bored recently..." Lance remained impassible as Karen brushed one of her fingers on each of his cheeks. "I just had to be a part of the storm that is brewing on the horizon. One way or the other."

"... I understand." Lance understood right there that Karen was dangerous, and that if she hadn't gone to them, she would probably have gone to Team Rocket. _I think it's best that she's here, where I can control her._

-Breakline-

"Oh. So you've managed to beat miss Sabrina. I've heard that she was undefeated." As dinner disappeared bite by bite, James and Jasmine ended up making casual conversation. Having a gym leader as an interlocutor, he eventually ended up talking about his badges. They were just two, but they were well earned.

"Yeah... It was a really close one." James drank some water from his cup as he recalled the end of the fight.

"Then again, reading about what you've done on the train... You had to be someone special." James blinked and then realized that to eat, he had removed his hat. Though, his identity didn't seem to faze Jasmine, and she did send him flying twice, after all. She could it again in case he did something. "That scar..."

"Uh? Ah, yeah." James right hand instinctively went to his nose, touching the thin line that now adorned his face. "I guess it will be a reminder of what I risked on that day."

"And all the lives you've saved." Jasmine interjected, as she could foresee James' thoughts taking a turn for the grim.

"... That too, I guess." He sighed. Seriously, why was he so negative?

"Ooooh! The teams are entering the field!"

-Breakline-

"Yeaaaaah! Go Houndoom!" Harrison cheered along with the rest of the fans on their half of the stadium as the two teams entered the diamond field, making a run around it to salute, as it was tradition, each one in the opposite sense. "Man, this is gonna be awesome! Kick..."

"WHO WILL WIN TODAY?"

"THE ELECTABUZZ!" He was blown away along with most of the Houndoom half of the stadium by the sheer air moved by the organized cheer of the Electabuzz fans. All captained by the same little girl. Brandon sweatropped.

"Heh... I don't know who's the better team, but they sure beat us at cheering." In the meanwhile, a blue haired trainer was perched right above one of the steel beams making up the structure of the opened dome, eating some chips and passing some to three bird Pokémon.

"Hmm... Oh, well. So, I suppose you're cheering for the Houndoom too?"

"Pidgeooooot!"

"Yeah. Can't stand electric types either." Munch munch.

-Breakline-

After all, even if in a month or so he would probably be on the black list of Team Rocket, right now he was enjoying a nice evening in the company of a nice person and an even nicer Pokémon, with lots of happy people surrounding him...

-Breakline-

"**We've reached firing range."**

"**First team, deploy!"**

-Breakline-

What could possibly go wrong?

-Breakline-

"They're starting!"

"Go Electabuzz!"

"Hm... I wonder if Casey is there... Ah, there she is!"

"Flat stuff, pass a can?"

"Stop calling me flat stuff!" Dawn snarled as he threw a can of beer to Jessie, hoping it would splash her with beer when it opened it if she shook it enough. He then took a sip of her own can. She had been persuaded into drinking, after all, if her slightly flushed cheek were any indication. That was her second beer.

"Alright. Here it begins! First pitch of the game!" Ash leaned in instinctively on his knees, observing the screen better... Then, something happened. A big white light suddenly flashed and filled the screen, and then it all went into static. "... What the hell did just happen?"

"Oh, I really hope it's not the antenna! I..." Brock stopped ranting when he heard similar reactions coming from other rooms and other floors. "... It's not just us. Maybe something happened at the stadium?"

-Breakline-

His right arm stung. It stung a lot. No, it didn't stung, it down right hurt like a son of a bitch, screw language. "Hnngh..."

"J-James-san!"

_Ah! Y-Y-You're bleeding!_

"I'm alright... It's just..." Yeah, what was it? James slowly opened his eyes again, his gaze unfocused and his ears still ringing. It had been an explosion, that much he knew, but what had caused it, he didn't know. He just saw a bright white light and, on instinct, grabbed Kiki, jumped over the table and threw himself over the psychic type and Jasmine.

He didn't know how he knew what was coming. From the voices he was starting to hear, many hadn't had his same intuition. He winced as he finally laid eyes on his arm. A few glass shards, the biggest as big as his thumb, were sticking in his right arm. "... Just a flesh wound, though."

"Let me see it." Jasmine said to him in a firm voice. As he turned to her again, he noticed that her gaze was as firm as her voice, and stern indeed. He got up from on top of them and slowly put himself into a sitting position, feeling more pieces of glass falling from his previously arched back. Jasmine immediately grasped his arm, observing the damage done from the glass shards. "... They're not in that deep."

Suddenly, she ripped off a long piece of her dress and then turned it into a bandage. "This will sting a bit." She firmly took a hold of his arm and then of the first piece of glass, and she ripped it out. James bit down on his lip to avoid a yelp of pain, and kept on doing it as she ripped out in rapid succession the other two smaller shards. Then she automatically picked up the make-shift bandage and wrapped it tightly around his arm. A few spots of blood appeared almost immediately, but that was that. "We will have to disinfect it later."

"Thanks... Ehm..." James tore his gaze away from her now exposed milky tights. A great sacrifice indeed. He then turned to Kiki and observed her. She was unscathed. He sighed in relief, and she blushed as she felt his concern for her well-being. "... What the hell happened?" He then got back on his feet.

The shock-wave caused by the explosion had destroyed every single glass window of the diner, and many of the people near one of them had ended up injured just as if not worse than him. Others had been throw off their feet and hit furniture on their way down, and he could see the waitress massaging her sore ankle. He then looked outside. It seemed that every building with glasses in a range of kilometers had met the same end. Some people were already stumbling outside, confused, or calling for help.

He then moved his gaze further to the right and his breath got stuck in his throat. "... The stadium..."

-Breakline-

"Damn... Thanks, Blaziken."

"Ziken!" The fire type stood fierce, holding a steel beam over his head before throwing it on a vacant zone of the field, landing with a loud metallic noise and raising dust. Harrison helped a nearby man back on his feet as he observed the damage done to the stadium.

"... God..." It had been new, and now half of it was destroyed. First there was the flash of light, than a series of explosions that had destroyed a good third of the stadium's structure on the spot, and more began to break down on its own, the precious geometries forever compromised, crushing under them... "... Most of the Electabuzz side..." He suddenly felt sick. He brought a hand to his mouth.

"Are you alright, down there?" Harrison looked up as he heard a voice from above. He raised his head to find a trainer, riding a pretty big Pidgeot, hovering above as he flapped his wings. "Can you move?"

"Y-Yes! I'm alright!" Harrison replied, getting back on his feet and cupping his hands to his mouth.

"Then start helping people on your side! I'll go and check on the other side!" Harrison nodded as Falkner prompted his Pidgeot to fly on the other side of the stadium, as he observed the damage, grimacing as he saw a red spot going under a steel beam. He landed near the place where the first explosion had taken place.

As he looked at the crushed and broken steel, he noticed something. There were no burns, no melted spots, no flames anywhere. The explosion had simply broken its target. _An explosion that doesn't burn... The only thing that I can think of that can do something like this is... An hyperbeam._ Falkner then noticed a steel beam moving among the rubble. He dove straight for it with his Pidgeot just as it got moved out of the way.

"Hnngh..." A guttural sound came from the mountain of steel as three big muscled men suddenly raised the beam with sheer strength, surprising Falkner too. He slowly hovered in front of the provided opening, getting in their line of sight. "S-Save... Save the leader..."

"Eh?" The men were all gravely injured, he saw, if the flowing blood was any indication. Another one suddenly appeared from behind them, carrying in his arms an unconscious but mostly unscathed young girl, handing it to Falkner. The gym leader took her as he recognized her for the leader of the Electabuzz fans.

"Don't let her die... Else the Electabuzz spirit dies with her... Ngh!" Falkner's eyes widened and his Pidgeot instinctively flew back as the men lost the last of their strength and the steel beam came crashing down on them again. The blue haired leader grimaced and turned his head to the side. "... We need help. Damn it we need help."

-Breakline-

The plan had succeeded and indeed he realized that the leader had been planning everything from a long time. The only ones in their group with enough experience to use Hyperbeam were him and the leader himself, but he had pushed them so that they could learn to at least fire it once a day. They had done so, and the fruits were being seen.

The first part of the plan had gone smoothly. They attacked when everyone were occupied with their sportive event and then disappeared underwater again. Now they would wait till most of them were in the streets to attack again. Then they would let them see them, and then the leader would make himself known.

"**Get ready for the next wave".**

-Breakline-

As Jasmine, James and Kiki walked through the streets of Olivine, a feeling of dread and uneasiness filled them with each step. Whatever had happened, it had first destroyed the stadium, carving open half of it, but that was not all.

Other explosions had fell closer, all over the cities, some hitting buildings that had fell onto themselves in clouds of dedritus and others had just hit the road, excavating holes in the concrete. James immediately recognized it as the effect of an hyperbeam, having been on the receiving end of their explosions, but never like this. He guessed that, bless the owners' hearts, he had always been hit with watered down versions.

He recognized them still because they lacked what a man-made explosion always had: burn marks, smell of sulphur or gunpowder, whatever kind of combustible or explosive that a bomb was needed to be made out of. As predicted, most of the people had gathered around the Pokémon center, finding it unscathed if not for the broken glass.

"... What could have happened? For this many hyperbeams to be fired at the same time... It must be a big pack of Pokémon or an organized group of trainers, but where could have they attacked from?" James asked out loud, while he noticed that Jasmine was looking around nervously, looking for someone. "Who are you looking f..."

"Jasmine! Jasmine!"

"Janina!" The Gym Leader cried out, relief clear in her voice as a dark blue haired girl ran to her and hugged her around the waist. She looked no more than twelve. The gym leader hugged her back as the girl cried in mid-hug. "Are you alright?"

"I was... I was so scared... I was going back to the Gym when... Huuu!" James guessed that one of the targets of the attack had been the gym, in case the local gym leader was inside it. He just had to wonder though, just what purpose could such an attack have.

"It's alright... I'm here, now."

"Jasmine!" The trio of human plus a Pokémon raised their heads to watch a landing Pidgeot approach them, along with his trainer riding it, carrying an unconscious girl in her arms.

"Falkner! You're alright!" Then Jasmine remembered that Falkner had been planning to watch the match perched on top of the stadium. As he landed and got on the ground, still holding the unconscious Casey in his arms. "By any chance, did you..."

"... I only saw a big white flash, but..." Falkner turned his eyes to his Pidgeot. "My Pokémon have seen several big Pokémon shapes, all similar between them, poking out of the water a few meters offshore."

"... Big water Pokémon..." Jasmine's eyes widened while James turned to the water. "A pack of water Pokémon that naturally learn Hyperbeam... That can only mean..."

"Yeah." James swallowed and then turned to Kiki.

"Kiki, by any chance, could you..." Kiki nodded, already guessing what he wanted to ask of her.

_Yes, but... Only if you can give me your hand._ James was confused, but quickly nodded and gently grasped Kiki's left hand with his right one. The girl closed her eyes and focused and, as clear as day, she felt it. The surge of power coming from James. There was no more doubt in her mind. He was one of them, even if he himself didn't know it yet. Then, she began to borrow on its power and extend her psychic perceptions to the sea.

As she did so, James suddenly felt a strange sensation. A tingling warmth generating from his abdomen and surging all the way up to his shoulder and then down his arm to Kiki's hand. _What... What is this feeling? It's like I was dropped in hot water after risking to be frozen to death in a snowstorm..._

Kiki began to search... And there they found them. There were... About twenty of them. She could feel so much rage, and malice, a chaotic amalgam of negative feelings that made her feel sick. Then, she came upon a different mind. This one held rage as well, but it was kept deep down in the core of his mind, controlled, and apart that it was perfectly calm and devoid of everything the other minds had in common. It was calm, precise, focused. Like a well trained soldier. She found it strange... Then, she focused on the last mind...

"Kiki!" The scream and the sudden jerk and powerful squeeze the Kirlia gave to his hand made James jump out of his skin. He knelt down in front of the psychic type, who just kept on screaming, though. "Kiki! Kiki, look at me! Look at me! I..." Then, he tried removing his hand from her own one.

"... Ki..." That worked. Kiki suddenly slumped to the ground as the sensation disappeared from his arm, seemingly exhausted, but James knew better as he stared deep into her eyes and heard her ragged breathing. She was terrified.

"Kiki... Kiki, what did you see?" He asked, worried. Kiki breathed in and out quickly a few more times before calming down enough.

_A-A monster. A terrible monster..._ She thought to James, and even her thoughts sounded scared. _It's a terrible being, filled with hate, a lust of blood, a desire to inflict pain on others... Ahhh..._ Kiki had touched a similar mind just twice before in her life, and neither time had been pleasant for her. Again, it had happened. Again, she had come in contact with someone whose mind was focused on pure evil.

"A monster...!" As James turned his gaze to the sea again, he saw shapes coming out of the water. His eyes widened as he recognized them and recognized the white flash coming out of their mouths. "They're at it again!"

"What...!" Jasmine had just a few seconds to see that her fears had been confirmed before watching the pack of Gyarados fire another volley of hyperbeams at the city.

-Breakline-

"**Fire!"** The lieutenant Gyarados ordered and the others obeyed, firing their hyperbeam at the respective targets, the places where the humans had aggregated, causing explosions and clouds of dust to raise up in the sky. Then, as clockwork, his fellow pack members started to cough and hack. It was to be expected. Using such an attack without being ready for it wasn't exactly healthy. They could only fire one shot daily, and then had to wait twenty-four hours before shooting again.

_I wonder about how many we have already killed..._ And then, he felt strange. As he thought about the attack, the humans they had already killed... He previously thought that he would have felt joyful, gleeful, at the revenge they were exacting on them... But instead, he felt indifference. He felt nothing. Maybe almost pity for how they had been killed without the chance of retaliating.

His mind travelled back to when he had first joined the pack. He had already had his vengeance, striking out at his neglectful ex-trainer, but he was still full of rage. That's when he had met the leader. So unlike any other Gyarados he had met in those few days after his evolution. He had taught him that rage was almost a natural state to their species, but that it could be guided, focused, harnessed for battle. He had offered to be his teacher. He accepted.

Together they then started attacking human ships every now and then, other Gyarados joining the pack as time passed, while his rage was wrestled better and better. He was now confident of being in full control of himself, no matter the situation. He no longer desired revenge or destruction... He would have probably left the pack months before had it not been for the debt he owed to the Leader. All of this was pretty much pointless to him.

He got broke out of his thoughts as he observed the dust clearing around the Pokémon center, revealing that their attacks focused on that point hadn't hit the targets. A large Pokémon, its skin shining in the moonlight, had stood between it and their volley of hyperbeams.

-Breakline-

"... That was some quick thinking."

"No matter the power, Hyperbeams are still Normal Type attacks, and it's not easy to damage a Rock/Steel type like Steelix with those types of attacks." Jasmine said as she hugged the sobbing Janina to her and then recalled her Pokémon. All around, people were having similar reactions, cowering in fear or crying their hearts out.

"This is bad... What could have possessed a bunch of wild Gyarados to gather together and attack a city?" Falkner had hugged to himself Casey instinctively to his chest, his Pidgeot covering them both with his wings, which now threw to the sides to quicker dissipate the cloud of dust hovering on the spot. "Also, they're too organized... Too intelligent. They hit everywhere to cause panic and make people gather around spots like Pokémon Centers, and then they attacked again to maximize casualties. Also, with the first attack, they hit most of the big ships at the docks."

James slowly moved his head to the shore and noticed that, indeed, the cruise ships were in the process of sinking, leaving intact, and he believed for very little yet, just ships from medium size down. "They... They don't want us to escape."

"Hmm..." Then a moan of pain brought his attention to Falkner again. Casey was coming to her senses again. "What... What happened..."

"Easy. You..."

"The stadium!" And she made a quick recovery if the way she had got back on her feet to stare at the ruined forms of the stadium was any indication. Her little gasp was heard by everyone, and Falkner was the only one close enough to see her eyes beginning to water. "... The guys... The players..."

"... Most of the Electabuzz half of the stadium has been buried in steel." Jasmine shot a glare at Falkner as Casey let a sob escape her throat and the flying type trainer just returned it. "You think we could have hidden it from her for long?"

"... I guess not." Jasmine conceded, before returning her gaze to the sea again. "... Something is happening again."

-Breakline-

"**Leader, it seems we've been met with resistance. We couldn't destroy the Pokémon center."**

"**Hmm... Not as planned, but..."** The leader emerged from the water, standing in all its monstrous glory. **"It's not an unforeseen circumstance."**

-Breakline-

"Kirlia!" Kiki's jerk and cry made James understand that the Gyarados now exiting the water along with all the others which had hidden underwater was the one whose mind had scared her that much.

"... What the hell is that?" Not that its appearance wasn't frightening.

The first thing he noticed was that it was red. A red Gyarados. He had seen something similar before, hadn't he? It was red, and it was big, really big. There was one Gyarados which stood bigger and stronger than the others, the one that had done nothing until that moment, but the red one was even bigger and stronger, and looking meaner. He didn't know if it was because of the huge scar over its left eye or because he could swear he had seen another row of teeth, but it was scary enough.

"A red Gyarados?" Jasmine commented, and everyone's attention was now on it. Then... It started happening. It was gathering light in its mouth. "It's preparing an Hyperbeam!" Jasmine got her Steelix out again to protect the Pokémon center. They would need the structure if they wanted to fight back, but then she noticed something.

"Everyone get... Eh?" Falkner looked around and noticed that they were missing someone. "Where's that little girl?"

It was taking much more time to charge than a normal Hyperbeam, and the light gathered in the Red Gyarados' mouth was much, much stronger, almost lighting up the night sky. "What... What is he..." Then, it happened.

"Ahhhh!" Everyone instinctively covered their eyes but James. He felt like he needed to see this. There was no way the thing coming out of the red Gyarados' mouth was a Hyperbeam. It was too big, wide, and too powerful looking. Just the movement as it travelled towards its target was causing abnormal winds to blow, snapping in half weaker structures near its epicentre, and if the light before risked lighting up the night sky, this one filled the whole city with white light.

James protected himself with his coat as he stared at it as it continued on its destructive path. Its target wasn't them. Nor any of the other buildings. The pure white ray impacted the cliffs on the other side of the city, and the ex-Rocket understood. The explosion was a dome of white light that impacted and crumbled to pieces the two cliffs that delimited Olivine's only entrance and generated even stronger gusts of wind. A few seconds later, his vision was filled with white spots and the sight of the cliffs now obliterated to boulders that created a wall, maybe not as high, but surely full, blocking anyone from leaving or entering. "... We're trapped."

"... We what?" Jasmine was the first to recover, having noticed that the explosion hadn't happened anywhere near them and moved her eyes in the same direction as James. She was visibly shocked. "Goodness gracious..."

"... Too intelligent. Too intelligent for Gyara... What the hell is she doing?" Falkner had found Casey again.

-Breakline-

"**I'm sorry I doubted you, Leader."** The young lieutenant declared as the red Gyarados, the Leader, panted out, in effort. _But I can see that it's not something that comes without risks._ He knew just the theory and what he had seen of his Leader's training. Firing all at once the destructive force of five hyperbeams, all at the same time.

"**No harm done, young one, but... Now, I will need rest... And protection."** The red Gyarados slowly turned around and began to swim in the opposite direction. **"For twenty-four hours I will be unable to even use a lesser attack... Now, deploy the sentinels and let us..."**

His speech was interrupted by the crackling noise of electricity and a loud growl, coming from one of the other Gyarados. All the other members of the pack turned around to watch as the victim cried out in pain before the electrocution ended and smoking, unconscious, it fell into the sea. Then, another Thunder attack shot from the shore and hit another Gyarados just as the pack turned to the shore.

Their eyes fell on the tear-stained form of a violet haired girl. Beside her stood the bigger, more dangerous, hulking shape of an Electivire. "The game... The team... Everyone..." She hiccuped, even as they couldn't possibly hear her. "Damn yoooou!" The shout was more audible as she cried out and the Electivire reacted by sending another powerful Thunder attack flying.

The third targeted Gyarados tried to move out of the way but failed, and ended up unconscious in the sea along with his other two companions. The leader narrowed his eyes. **"Young one!"**

"**I'm on it, Leader."** The lieutenant acted instantaneously. He shot forward with the shore, and turning on itself dodged another thunder attack, raising his tail out of the water and in the air, the appendage making a long arc till it impacted on the ground a few meters from Casey, sending shockwaves that were raising earth and sea and detritus which headed towards the Electabuzz fan and her Electivire at high speed. Recovered a bit from her rage, she gasped as she recognized the attack.

"Earthqua... Yaaaa!" The wave reached the small girl and her Pokémon and send them both flying through the air, injuring both of them severally as they fell to the ground with sickening loud 'thuds', the culprit Gyarados watching in annoyance. The purple haired girl struggled to get back on her feet as her Electivire did the same, injured but not out of the fight yet... "E-Elekky, return." But she couldn't bear the sight. She recalled him in her Pokéball.

"**... Target neutralized, Lead..."**

"**Kill her."** The lieutenant was surprised as he turned to his fatigued mentor.

"**But sir, she recalled her Pokémon. She's no longer a threat."**

"**Her Pokémon can be cured. She dared to attack us alone. She'll always be a threat."** The leader growled. **"Dispose of her!"**

"**... I..."** The choice was taken from him as what looked like a streak of high speed feathers dropped down and snatched the girl away from danger.

"Crazy girl..." Falkner muttered under his breath as he carried the now badly hurt girl to safety. "Those guys entrusted you to me. Want to make me look bad or something?"

"**... Let's retreat. Sentinels, take your posts."** The Leader declared, and the whole pack submerged itself, carrying their injured with them. The Lieutenant though hesitated a bit, letting his gaze linger on the departing Pokémon a bit more before going down as well. The attack that Falkner expected to be coming never arrived.

-Breakline-

"... Damn, those were some fireworks!" The blonde rocket member said, applauding. "Why the hell hasn't the boss done anything to get its hands on something like that?"

"... You really should read the mission briefings thoroughly." His silver haired companion sighed in disappointment.

-Breakline-

"Oh, come on!" The twerps-TR baseball alliance was currently desperate over the fact that an announcer had announced that the transmission from Olivine stadium had mysteriously been cut off and that it would be back as soon as possible. "We're losing the game of the century!"

"I bet James is watching it without problems right now. Damn it..." Meowth muttered. "The sap doesn't even like Baseball!"

"Unfair, I tell you." Jessie muttered under her breath, while Dawn snorted, fast asleep on the other couch, having drunk one beer too many, it seemed. Brock, in the meanwhile... Was thinking. He couldn't help but feel uneasy. It was probably because of his father's earlier message, but still... He felt uneasy.

-Breakline-

"I can't believe this..." Erika and Sabrina had arrived in Ecruteak City, and as planned had contacted the local Gym Leader, Morty. After the various pleasantries, Sabrina had gotten what she wanted: advice on how to train Ghost-types and the usual tour of town.

Then, they had been invited to watch the game at his home, only for the signal to disappear and to recive a message that something had happened in Olivine city. They put it to something in the transmission machinery to have broken down, but then...

There came the report of the huge explosion seen by miles by all those travelling in either direction, be it to or from Olivine at night. The network tried sending the usual Fearow with a camera to the place only to get an image of an enormous crater and a destroyed cliff that practically sealed off Olivine from the rest of the world.

The flying Pokémon had then tried to fly above the cliff and was almost struck down from a Thunder attack, which, though, only succeeded in burning out the camera. "He decides to travel to Olivine, and what happens? This! More trouble!"

"... Maybe he is cursed." Morty suggested, not joking one moment. "Some Pokémon are known to do that... Did he ever upset any ghost Pokémon in the past?"

Sabrina kept silent deciding to not comment. Haunter just snickered in the background. Erika sighed and brought a hand to her forehead. "... James... What have you gotten yourself into, now?"

-Breakline-

"Stupid girl! What the hell were you thinking?" Falkner had take it upon itself to admonish Casey for her dangerous behaviour once they were safe back in the Pokémon center, being the one having been entrusted with her safety. "You could have gotten yourself killed! All of you against thirty Gyarados?"

"Twenty-four." Falkner stopped as he turned around to face James, the violet haired trainer being the one who had talked. "They were twenty-four. Casey took out three of them... That leaves twenty-one."

"And how do you know that?" James patted Kiki's head. The Kirlia had recovered from the previous scare, and now sported a hearty blush at the gesture. "... Last I checked, psychic Pokémon couldn't really read minds at will."

"She's special. Let's leave it at that... Though, you've been the one who's been the closest to them. Impressions?" James asked the bird type trainer, changing the subject.

"... Singularly they're not that strong. The fact that Casey's Electivire dropped them with one electric attack is proof of that. The only dangerous ones if tackled alone..." Falkner remembered how that Gyarados had used Earthquake of all attacks to take out Casey. "Are the one who did nothing and the red one... The red one is probably the leader or something, while the younger one... He was bigger and stronger than all the others bar the red one. Also... He knew earthquake. That's troubling."

"Earthquake?" James tried to remember what he had read about Gyarados on his nights passed on the Pokédex to prepare for his Gym fights, and he understood as he recalled. "... This is troubling."

"W-Why is that?" Casey had recovered enough strength and spirit to ask a question.

"Gyarados don't learn Earthquake naturally. It's logical, they're water Pokémon, after all." Falkner explained. "Their only chance to learn that attack, is to be taught it... And I'm sure that there's no human head behind them. They're just a pack of wild Gyarados."

"Then, who the hell taught him that attack? And who..."

"The red one." Falkner cut James off almost immediately, remembering the spare glance he had given to the Leader's eyes. "... His eyes... They almost scared me. There was a human intelligence behind them... And something else. Something evil. I don't know how, but I'm sure he's the one responsible of everything."

"... That's what Kiki told me too." Falkner raised an eyebrow at the name Kiki, but he put two and two together quickly and understood that it was the Kirlia's name. "... This is a mess. We... Ah!"

"Again?" Casey reacted the most strongly among the people present as the sound of another hyperbeam suddenly went off, or at least they thought it was an hyperbeam. It didn't have the same sound. Also, there wasn't any explosion coming this time. "... No explosion?"

"Nah. It wasn't us that they were targeting, this time." A tall trainer accompanied by a Blaziken, carrying two injured people over his shoulders appeared into the chaos that was the Pokémon center. He met James' eyes almost immediately. "Hey. Happy to know you survived."

"Thanks... But what do you mean it wasn't us they were targeting?" He asked back. Harrison 'hmm'-ed with his arms crossed for a few seconds and then shook his head.

"I don't know for sure... It was a flying Pokémon that was trying to fly over the cliff. One of those Gyarados shout out a Thunder attack at him." Harrison uncrossed his arms to scratch the back of his head, a bit embarrassed that he couldn't give more information even though he cut in that way. Falkner cursed. Thunder was another attack that Gyarados didn't learn on their own."I believe that it was probably a scout of the rangers, or of some TV Station. The explosions... In particular the one that levelled the cliff, couldn't have been unnoticed. Also, the game was being transmitted live..."

"The game..." Casey's humor took a turn for the dark again, and Harrison winced at having made her sad... "Damn it!" Or so he thought. Casey reacted by punching her own legs with her hands clenched into fists. "Damn it! Why, why, why?"

"We don't know... And quite frankly, right now I don't care." The assorted group turned to their right to meet the visage of a pretty serious Jasmine with a still pretty shaken Janina gripping her left arm in search of some measure of safety. "All I know is that they attacked my city... Hurt my people... They trapped us and are making so that no help is on its way any time soon."

"Yeah. If they are going to target every flying Pokémon poking its head over what remains of the cliff, that means that they will have to remove the rocks by hand or dig a tunnel. That will take days. Approaching from the sea would be a suicide for anyone." Falkner continued. "They've thought this well. Two attacks a day with Hyperbeams to maximize damage and so that we have just that small arc of time for even trying to counter-attack, and sentinels for flying types."

"We don't know what they want, but we can only assume the worse. They're not gonna stop until they leve this city." Jasmine narrowed her eyes and Janina grasped her arm a bit tighter. "As Gym Leader, is my duty to retaliate... But, I can't leave this location." That made everyone turn to her. "All the survivors and the injured are being brought to this Pokémon center and the surrounding buildings... And my Steelix is the only thing that can resist a volley of those attacks. I can't leave the immediate surroundings... So... I will need help." Jasmine let her gaze pass on each and every one of the presents. "And you four are the highest level trainers still able to fight in town."

"You can obviously count on me to help, Jasmine." Falkner immediately offered his assistance.

"And mine." Harrison.

"Mine too!" Casey, hot blooded as few. "Those overgrown lizards will pay for what they've done... And for ruining the game!"

"... I want to help too, but..." Before James could even finish saying what he wanted to say, Kiki pulled on his arm. The trainer turned around to meet the pleading look of the Kirlia. "... Kiki, are you sure? You aren't really..." She nodded fiercely. "Kirlia, this will be dangerous." She raised an eyebrow, and James felt stupid. She had fought a war, after all. "... Ok, we're in too. But I only have Kirlia with me."

"If she can really read minds, she will be more than useful." Falkner commented, remembering James' earlier words. "Now, I guess we need to think about the most pressing necessities."

"Yes. I think the first thing to do is..." As Jasmine began to speak again, the lights in the Pokémon center suddenly flickered out and died. Janina yelped and Jasmine muttered something under her breath. "This, actually."

"The power went out?"

"The nearby electric central has been one of the sites hit by the Hyperbeams. Up till now, the Pokémon center has been running on an emergency generator... But I guess its autonomy has almost ran out. They're keeping it just for the medical machines now, but ithat's going to end too in a few hours." Harrison cursed slightly under his breath as his Blaziken stepped on his right foot. "We have to restore the power."

"How? If the power went out, it's probably because the machineries have been destroyed." Falkner asked.

"The connections are still intact because they've been built completely underground. We just need a powersource, and I have just the Pokémon." Falkner understood.

"Your Ampharos, right?" The lighthouse hadn't been hit, he remembered, even if the light had stopped shining. "But... You've told me that he only listens to you, and you've said that you can't leave here..."

"Not to me only... Right, Janina?" The small girl tensed and started trembling as her name was spoken. Jasmine knelt down in front of her and gently grabbed her shoulders. "Janina..."

"I-I don't want to... I'm scared!" She immediately retorted, shaking her head from side to side and tears flowing freely.

"Janina, I can only count on you to do this." Jasmine then dropped a little bomb on Janina. If the little girl had ever wanted anything, it was Jasmine's approval or praises. "Amphy only listens to me and you. You're the only one who can do this... Otherwise, all the injured Pokémon and people here... Do yo understand?"

"... I..." Janina's tears had stopped coming. She lowered her head and seemed to be thinking about it. Then, she suddenly nodded.

"I'm proud of you. You're a very brave Pokémon trainer, Janina. But of course, I won't send you out there alone." Jasmine turned to the group of trainers again. "I'd like you two to accompany her, James and Harrison."

"Why the two of us, specifically?" Harrison asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Your Blaziken has already helped in freeing captive people from the stadium's wreckage thanks to his strength and his fire. Judging by how it was hit, I don't think the path to the central's core will be clear anymore." Harrison nodded and then she turned to James. "And if your Kirlia can really read minds..."

"We can stay ahead of the Gyarados patrolling the shore line." The road from the city to the lighthouse was near the shore, and now most of the buildings in that area had been levelled. He swallowed. He didn't want to find himself on the end of one of those attacks, but... There was little he could do. "Well... Let's do this."

"W-What about me?" Casey stood on her feet when she realized the plan wasn't including her.

"We stay here and wait for the power to come back so that we can heal your Electivire." Casey at a reminder of her earlier actions. "I bet you have other Pokémon, but for the battle ahead, we're going to need Electric types... More than anything else." Falkner then grumbled under his breath. He hated electric types more than anything else.

"Why is that? I mean... I have a Meganium. He was my starter. Gyarados are water types, right?"

"They're not just water types. They're dragon types." James suddenly voiced, swallowing, remembering a particular close encounter he had had with a bunch of them years before and their own version of Dragon Dance. "Dragon types are resistant to almost everything..."

"Yeah, and there aren't many grass attacks that pack enough of a punch to overcome a dragon type's resistance... We're lucky that they're neutral to Electric attacks. Casey showed us before that a powerful enough one can down the minor ones... The lackeys, we could say." Harrison tsk-ed at Falkner's information. He had no electric types nor any of his Pokémon knew any electric attacks... "Dragons are only weak to ice." Then he blinked and smiled. He could do Ice, though.

"The lackeys... Let's make a point of what we're facing before continuing." Jasmine took from a nearby seat a poster advertising the tragically cancelled game and a marker. She turned the poster around exposing the white back and began to draw twenty-four small circles. "Your Kirlia said that we're facing twenty-four Gyarados, right?"

"Yes. Twenty-four in all." James nodded in reply and Jasmine marked away three of the circles with a cross.

"Casey took out three of them... They were in the group of the weakest ones, the one who only attack with hyper-beams." Falkner commented as he guessed what Jasmine was doing. "They were two groups of nine. Eighteen of them in total."

"Now there are two Gyarados patrolling the shoreline, and they knew Thunder. They are sentries for flying types and anything else, I guess." Harrison rubbed his chin. "If they were split in two groups too... That would make them four."

"It fits. That would only leave..." Jasmine added small 'S' inside of four of the circles. "The other two."

"The one who wasn't doing anything and knew Earthquake... I think he's sort of the second in command. The Leader of course being the red one." Jasmine nodded at her fellow gym leader's words and added a '2' and a 'R' inside of two other circles. "... All in all, this is gonna be though."

"Yes... But we can only think about counter-attacking after we secure the Pokémon's center and our survival." Jasmine said and Harrison got up on his feet.

"I say we leave now. We need light, but right now the darkness will be our ally." James nodded and shivering, he got back on his feet as well.

"Janina, take this." Jasmine handed the young girl a Pokéball with a small 'A' sticker on it. "It's Amphy's Pokéball. Take good care of it."

"I-I will."

_Here we go again._ James thought as he looked out of the window. _First the train, now this? Did I suddenly become a magnet for bad luck or anything?_ He shook his head and turned apologetic to Kiki. _I'm sorry, Kiki... It's probably going to be like this as long as you follow me around._

_It's alright._ She thought to him. _I'm used to fighting... Also.._ She blushed as she suddenly averted her gaze, embarrassed. _At least... I'm not in that ball anymore._

"... Yeah." But at least there she was safe, James couldn't help but add.

_To be continued..._

_In the next chapter_

James, Harrison and Janina go on a mission to bring Amphy out of the lighthouse and to the power central, while Jasmine and Falkner start thinking about fighting back just as the Gyarados prepare for their second attack. The first clash between wild Pokémon and trainer will have unexpected results, though.


End file.
